Transformers: Technorganic (Original Version)
by T'Reilani
Summary: The Autobots sent two of their best scouts ahead before coming to Earth; a bonded pair, one of whom was born organic. Their mission was simple: Find the AllSpark, stay undercover, and report back. When Cybertron's war reaches Earth, everything changes, forcing the duo to adjust and adapt. Prowl/OC, changes to movie events. Original version will be removed when rewrite is complete.
1. Chapter 1: Message

_**Transformers: Technorganic**_

"normal"

_bond/thoughts _

**radio**

::comm::

**A/N:** **Okay, this **_**really **_**needed a massive overhaul/edit, so guess what this week's project was? I didn't expect to update it, but when I went back to read it, I realized that Riella's character had undergone some major changes since I first wrote this. Also, I've gotten better at writing since this story. When it was first written, Riella was a borderline self-insert. Some people can write those well; I can't. Thus, in the interests of continuity and having my best writing available on-site, all chapters have been edited, some pretty significantly. The Riella in this story is now a much closer match for the Riella who appears in "Diabolus Ex Machina" and the last few chapters of "Operation Earth". In addition, I added a whole new chapter ("Hold Your Ground") between chapters 12 and 13. The storyline is roughly the same, but diverges more from the movie and focuses more on Riella and Prowl's thoughts and characters. "Expecting the Unexpected" has already been edited, and "Operation Earth" is up next, so keep an eye open for changes to those as well. **

**And now that my ridiculously long author's note is finished, on with the story!**

**Chapter 1: Message**

_Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That was how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony, but like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war - a war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home, searching every star, every world. And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called Earth. But we were already too late…_

**Present Day: Earth**

For once, Tranquility, Nevada was living up to its name. The nighttime silence was broken only by crickets and the occasional car engine on main roads. It was, to the relief of the two figures in a shadowy back alley, almost the perfect night for stealth activity.

Stepping carefully out of the shadows, the young woman made her way quickly away from the buildings and up a slight hill. She was tall for a woman, a fact accentuated by her heeled motorcycle boots, and wore a leather jacket, long pants, and gloves that left her face and blond hair the only visible part of her skin even though it was a warm night. Her blue-green eyes practically seemed to glow in the semidarkness, highlighting the fact that her eyebrows curved slightly upward instead of down.

When she reached the top of the hill, she stepped out of the dim glow of the streetlights again. Standing in the shadows, she waited for a few seconds, then touched a finger lightly against the side of her head, muttering, "Blasted signal. Do you read?" She tilted her head a bit, listening to the inaudible response, then said softly, "Acknowledged. What is your location?" She listened again for a bit longer. "Copy that. I'm sending you the coordinates of a junkyard approximately halfway between our locations. Meet us there in half a standard hour."

She listened again, then turned and walked back down the hill briskly, blond ponytail swinging behind her. On the road below, almost hidden in the shadow of a building, was a sleek black and gold motorcycle. She went straight to it, swung one leg over the seat, and rested her hands on the handlebars, tapping her finger lightly against the metal.

The motorcycle rumbled to life immediately, its engine quieter than most. It pulled out of the shadows and headed onto the main road, taking the turns with the confidence of a driver who knew exactly where to go. The young woman didn't speak again until they arrived outside a metal fence surrounding a junkyard, then she stepped off the motorcycle. She looked around, then removed a small object from under her jacket and flipped a switch on it. She looked at it for a moment before glancing down and nodding once at her bike.

The motorcycle's engine rumbled and clicked as it began shifting and changing shape. A moment later, it rose off the ground and stood up, no longer a motorcycle but a sixteen-foot-tall black and gold robot. Reaching down with one large hand, it lifted the woman onto its shoulder, then carefully stepped over the fence and set her down. The two made their way to a small rise near the center of the junkyard, where the robot settled into a sitting position. The woman climbed up onto its leg and sat down. From a distance, neither would be particularly noticeable among all the metal in the area; one reason why they'd chosen a junkyard as their meeting place.

The robot bent down slightly so that its face was close to the woman's before speaking, almost inaudibly. "Riella, is everything alright? I know you're not used to being on organic planets anymore. You seem…uncomfortable." Its voice was metallic, but distinctly masculine.

Riella responded just as quietly. "I'm fine, Prowl. Remember that discussion we had about this. Organic planets mean very little to me anymore. I'm as capable of completing this mission as you."

"Of course." Prowl nodded and rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to imply that you were incapable. You _are _on edge; I simply wondered why."

"I understand." Riella relaxed into the touch. "I can honestly say the discomfort comes mostly from unfamiliarity. Being in organic mode exclusively is quite an adjustment. For both of us, I'm sure."

"Fair point." Prowl chuckled softly, then straightened up at the sound of a car engine. _Incoming,_ he added over the bond. Riella smiled. After so long alone, it wasn't easy to remember that with others around they had to actually _talk._

Riella slid off Prowl's knee and climbed to the top of the rise, as Prowl stood up behind her. They watched as the battered yellow Camaro drove through the gates and up to them, then transformed into a robot slightly taller than Prowl. Riella smiled up at it and rested a hand on one of its knees, the only thing she could reach from her current height. "Good to see you again, Bee."

Bumblebee looked down at her, faceplates curving into a smile, and a response played softly from his radio. **Hello to you too. **Riella didn't recognize the sound clip, but it got the point across.

"So, you made contact with him, and located the coordinates to the AllSpark?" Prowl got right to the issue at hand.

Bumblebee made a slight chirping noise, and nodded.

"Well, we need to transmit the message, then." _Riella, can you keep the scanner running? Galaxy-wide message will be easy to spot._

"Affirmative", Riella said dryly, adding _Remember Bee can't hear you this way, _as she took out the device from her jacket again. The two robots began transmitting data into a galaxy-wide comm message. ::AllSpark located. Autobots follow coordinates to planet Earth.::

As they transmitted, Riella turned on her scanner, checking to ensure they were still alone. She registered two dogs, probably guards, several humans too far away to be a threat - and then one human, far closer.

"Bee!" she hissed. "The human you were supposed to be watching..."

All three turned to look. Just behind a pile of scrap metal, a young human male was crouching, frantically whispering into a cellphone. When he saw that they had noticed him, he dropped the phone and started backing away...then bolted as the two junkyard dogs pulled free of their restraints and chased after him.

Prowl rattled off a basic plan he'd probably been waiting months to use. "Bumblebee, divide and conquer. Holoform time. Bring him home if you can, but do _not _break cover. Contact us again after you do that. Riella, help me finish sending the message. We need another ten minutes of transmission at least."

Bumblebee acknowledged and sped off. Riella moved over to Prowl's side and placed a hand on his leg, channeling the message into her comm system and taking Bumblebee's place in the message transferal.

When the message had been completed, Prowl transformed back to his motorcycle mode. Riella swung her leg over the seat easily, and the two left the junkyard as quietly as possible, heading back toward the outskirts of the city.


	2. Chapter 2: Attack

**A/N: Biggest change to this chapter was Riella and Prowl's constant use of their bond. I think the bond-link is pretty well established in TF fanon, so it doesn't need too much explanation, but I added a bit about it anyway.**

**Chapter 2: Attack**

Late the next morning, Riella and Prowl crouched under cover of Prowl's hologram generator just outside of city limits, waiting for Bumblebee to join them.

"By my calculations, someone should arrive by 12:00 tonight." Riella glanced up at the sky, slightly filtered by the color of the hologram. "Possibly sooner, if they were close."

Prowl nodded, frowning. _Riella, check your comm._

_Remember to talk, Prowl. Don't get out of the habit now. _Riella arched one eyebrow. "Problem?" She activated her own comm. "I'm not receiving any signals."

"Neither am I. That concerns me. Bumblebee was supposed to contact us with a location where we could rendezvous with him."

Riella frowned. "Perhaps we should search for him? He may be in trouble."

The robot standing beside her shrugged a bit. "Your call, since you are the one who will have to interact with any humans we encounter. But it couldn't hurt; if he contacts us, we can always meet him later."

Riella tilted her head a bit, debating, then said, "Let's go."

As they entered the town, Prowl now in his motorcycle mode, Riella discreetly scanned the area. In vehicle mode, Prowl could hear her but not respond, so she used the bond, almost automatically. _I'm picking up Bee's signal. He appears to be moving toward the junkyard sector. Should I contact him?_

_Yes, go ahead._ Prowl pulled over to the side of the street and parked, turning off his engine. _Ask him what happened last night. His report only told us that the Witwicky boy was back with his creators, and you know what minimal reports always mean._

_Yes, I do, and that's "parents", Prowl. "Parents". _Riella raised a hand to her comm unit, after looking around to make sure no one was watching. Because of the humans on the sidewalk, she used internal communications only. ::Riella to Bumblebee. Come in.::

After a moment, the response came through. ::Bumblebee here.::

::Where are you?::

::At the moment, following Sam Witwicky through downtown.::

::What? Why?:: Riella turned to Prowl. _Did you hear that?_

_Yes, I did. _ Prowl's comm clicked on. ::You had better have a good explanation for this, Bumblebee.::

::I do,:: the younger mech protested. ::He thinks I'm stalking him. He saw us last night.::

Riella shook her head. ::That's not an explanation. He thinks you're stalking him, so you're following him? Where is the logic in that?::

::I need to explain to him.::

::Bumblebee...:: Before Riella could finish her reprimand, Prowl spoke over the bond link. _We're attracting attention._

Sure enough, several humans were looking oddly at the young woman standing perfectly still next to her motorcycle with one finger touching the side of her head. One man stepped toward her. "Miss, are you all right?"

Riella lowered her hand and turned toward him, smiling. "Oh, yes, I'm fine. I was just trying to remember something." She had developed an excellent 'poker face' over the years, and it paid off now, as the man nodded and returned the smile before walking away. The others who had been staring turned back to their business. Riella nodded once and slid her leg back over the seat of Prowl's motorcycle mode. ::Bumblebee, we're setting a course to intercept you and him. Please notify us if he makes any abrupt direction changes.::

They were pulling out of the parking spot almost before his acknowledgement came through. ::Copy that.::

Prowl set a pace through the city that was pushing the limits of legality. Riella nearly scraped her knee on the pavement as they rounded a corner. _Is this speed really necessary, Prowl?_

_Yes, if we want to intercept them ASAP. I can take turns more slowly if you are open to breaking the speed limit on straight stretches._

Riella sighed and tightened her grip on the handlebars, resigning herself to the speed. _Just don't slip, okay? I'd survive a crash, but it would still hurt._

Even going the maximum legal speed (and occasionally passing it), it was well after noon before Riella picked up Bumblebee's energy signal as well as his tracker. Why were human cities so ridiculously hard to navigate anyway? _Got Bee's signal. We're almost there. Wait, I'm getting another signal…Prowl! We've got -_

She didn't have time to tell him to stop and hang back before they turned the corner and crashed full force into solid metal.

Riella was jolted off the seat by the collision, and was thrown over the object they'd crashed into before slamming into the concrete, scraping her face painfully. She rolled and tumbled, managing to turn so that she was facing back the way they'd come. Prowl skidded off in the other direction, leaving streaks of black paint on the pavement before stopping rather abruptly against the side of a building.

Riella sat up, trying to shake off the pain and focus. She caught a glimpse of two humans - Sam Witwicky and a dark-haired female - staring at her in shock, but her attention was almost immediately locked onto the cause of the collision. The bulky black and white robot had been knocked off balance by the impact, but was already back upright and stable, red optics fixed on Riella in a death glare. Her eyes narrowed, and she struggled to her feet, ignoring the green blood trickling down her face from a slight cut on her left cheek.

"Barricade. You really do have a death wish, don't you?"

Barricade took a step forward. "Back off, femme. The boy is mine."

"Not as long as I'm still standing." Riella kept her voice level and calm, but she was shouting over the bond link. _Prowl! Come on, get up, I need your help! I can't take him alone and keep them safe at the same time!_

Her attention jerked back to Barricade as he swung his rotating blade down toward her. She ducked and flipped backward, barely avoiding it. A few quick movements ripped off her torn jacket and gloves, getting them out of the way before activating the battle-blades in her forearms. One of the humans made a shocked noise, which Riella had mostly expected – after all, she _had _just revealed blue metal arms and blades that extended two feet beyond each hand – but there wasn't time to deal with that. Barricade's blade came down fast and hard. She just managed to catch it and sidestep, deflecting it down into the concrete. Shocks ran up her arm. Her organic mode wasn't strong enough to take a direct hit.

_But transformation is going to make sure the humans never come near us again. I can handle it like this._

She dodged another swipe from Barricade and spun to give her strike more power, aiming for the cables in his lower leg. He saw it coming, and she barely managed to backflip away from his kick in time. Her right blade still connected, but not hard enough to do any damage.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Prowl transform and sensed his apologies through the link. They didn't need to communicate; she had been with him long enough to know exactly what he had in mind. Backflipping again and landing up on top of a wrecked human car, she deflected another blow, with the other blade this time. She and Prowl started the mental countdown simultaneously. _Five, four…_

Barricade slammed a fist down toward Riella, smashing a hole in the concrete. _Three, two... _Riella took a quick step back, then tucked her head down and front-flipped off the car, landing in a tumbling roll and coming up on her feet well away from her opponent. _One!_

Prowl leaped forward, left foot thrusting in a hard kick that caught Barricade between the doorwings, sending him sprawling. Before the Decepticon could recover, Prowl landed on top of him, pinning him down and twisting one black-and-white arm into a hammerlock.

Riella took the opportunity to turn to the two humans, who were staring at her and the battling robots with wide, terrified eyes. "Why are you still here? Run! He'll remember we weren't his original targets in a minute or two!"

The boy stammered. "What...who..." Before he finished, his eyes got even wider, and he pointed over Riella's shoulder, screaming, "LOOK OUT!"

Acting on pure instinct, Riella dived forward and rolled. The ground shuddered as a metal fist slammed into the ground right where she had been standing. She looked up, taking in the scene in a second.

Prowl was struggling back to his feet, a hole in the building behind him indicating a hard landing. Barricade was standing over Riella and the humans, a look of triumph on his metal face. He raised the rotating blade over his shoulder, snarling menacingly.

Then a battered yellow Camaro slammed into his leg, knocking him over backward. Bumblebee turned fast and stopped next to the humans, his passenger door flying open.

"Get them out of here!" Riella snapped. Without waiting to see what happened, she ran toward Prowl, who was moving toward Barricade to block his way. _Humans are clear. Go!_

Barricade launched himself into Prowl, slamming into the smaller mech with a vicious crash and slamming them both onto the ground. Over the bond, Riella felt the stab of pain as something crunched in Prowl's chest, and threw herself back into the fight with a shout in Cybertronian. Her blade connected, slicing through half-a-dozen cables in Barricade's left ankle and drawing his attention. The 'Con roared in fury and spun around, almost smacking her with a vicious backhand and forcing her to back up. The moment Barricade was distracted, Prowl hit him with a solid kick to the midsection, throwing the larger Decepticon off of him and getting back on his feet in one motion. Barricade looked from Prowl to Riella, snarled a curse, and transformed (rather roughly, given the cables still trailing from one rear wheel and the screech of metal) before racing after Bumblebee.

Riella looked after him, made a quick decision, and ran to her mate's side instead. _How bad are you hurt? _Prowl was clearly in pain, wincing and leaning one hand against the nearest building for support. _We have to follow. Bumblebee needs our help._

Prowl shook his head. _Can't transform. That last hit took out my transform circuits. Can you - _

_-Fix them? I'll try. Get down so I can reach. _Prowl obligingly knelt, covering both of them with a shaky hologram, and opened the plating over the affected circuitry. Riella pushed him back slightly until she could look down at the injury. _I'll do my best, I just hope it doesn't take too long…_


	3. Chapter 3: Arrival

**A/N:** **This was a fun (if really long) chapter to edit. The biggest changes involve skipping bits from the movie in favor of interaction among the Autobots, mostly because I think Optimus getting exasperated is funny.**

**Chapter 3: Arrival**

Riella opened a small container on her belt, removing a welder and a mini EMP generator. Leaning over Prowl's chest, she examined the circuits carefully. _Not as bad as it looks. Most of the wires are out of alignment, and two are broken, but that isn't difficult to fix. Thank Primus for basic field-medic training._

She touched the EMP to the first broken wire and sent a small pulse through it to minimize the discomfort, then pressed the ends together and began welding it. The process, while not difficult, was rather delicate due to the fact that the wire was made up of several smaller wires that all had to be welded exactly, and she had to focus all of her attention on it – she barely had any experience with this kind of work. Prowl stayed perfectly still and silent, not wanting to distract her or make her job more complicated.

To Riella's frustration, it took her almost an hour to finish, between the difficulty of the job and the need to be quiet if any human came near. _I'm sure we've lost Bee by now. It's getting dark. _

_I know. _Prowl sat up, then transformed. _Excellent work. We need to report to the rendezvous point – we cannot afford any more setbacks._

_What? _Riella stared at him in shock. _But Bumblebee – _

_Can handle this, _Prowl reminded her gently. _He's made for guarding and front-line fighting, Riella, unlike you and I. He will be fine. Let's go._

…_I hate when you make a valid point. _Riella sighed and got on the motorcycle. _I do _not _like leaving him on his own._

Prowl accelerated slowly, making sure she was paying enough attention to not slip off. _Neither do I, but the mission is more important than our personal feelings. Remember, the needs of the many -_

_I know, I know. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. That does not mean I have to like this. He's the only one we've managed to stay with since the AllSpark was lost._

_Oh, Riella. _Prowl sent as much sympathy as he could to her. _I know. It hurts me as well. I promise you, we will find them all one day._

Riella sighed and patted the side of the motorcycle just below the handlebars, in the place that corresponded to his shoulder in robot mode. _Thank you. _She smiled slightly and added, _At least we still have each other._

_Forever._

They didn't speak again until they reached the center of the city. By then, it was dark enough to see the stars. They parked outside City Hall to wait, and Riella took the moment to stare off toward the star she knew to be Cybertron's sun. _Long way from home._

Moments later, a signal popped up in Riella's heads-up display, and a neon yellow Camaro turned a corner fifty yards down the street. Riella stood up to get a better look, making sure it was in fact Bumblebee. _Looks like someone upgraded._

::Glad to see you're all right, Bee. Why the vehicle change?:: She leaned back against Prowl, raising one eyebrow.

::Sam and Mikaela thought the first one was 'a piece of crap',:: Bumblebee explained. Riella was pretty sure he would have been blushing if he was in robot mode.

::Who is Mikaela?::

::Sam Witwicky's 'girlfriend'.::

::Ah...the female with him:: Prowl commented. _Scans indicate he is interested in her as more than a friend._

Riella laughed internally. _Don't tell them that. He will not appreciate it, and neither will she._

Bumblebee pulled up beside them and let Sam and Mikaela out. The humans stared at Riella for a moment before Sam finally spoke. "Um...don't take this the wrong way, but who the _hell _are you?"

Unfazed by the humans' confusion, Riella pushed her hair back behind elegantly pointed ears – the rubber band holding it out of her face had broken during the earlier fight. "I am Riella, and this -" she gestured to the motorcycle "is Prowl. He would introduce himself, but this is not a good place for him to transform due to the attention it would attract." Talking still felt odd. She was going to have to break that habit of bond-speaking exclusively on missions.

"So...it's...he's...some kind of robot? What, are you some kind of aliens or something?" Mikaela pointed to Bumblebee. "He said…at least I think that's what he meant."

"And then there was all that stuff last night, what was that?" Sam added. "Like, a message or something?"

_Yes…_Riella started, realized what she was doing, and repeated herself out loud. "Yes." She started to explain, but before she could, familiar signals replayed over her long-range comm system, and her scanner picked up the crash of Cybertronian metal hitting atmosphere thousands of miles above her. A look up indicated that all four had made it through entry, and were currently dropping toward the city in sphere form. The flames surrounding each one made for quite the dramatic sight. "It would appear to have had the desired effect." Relief and excitement mingled over the bond as Prowl ran the same scan. _Finally! Back with our own…_

_Can you tell who? _Riella's scanner wasn't as powerful in organic mode.

_Prime for sure, and Jazz. No verdict on the other two. Watch the humans – we've got a landing just half a mile south. Open field. I think Prime, but there's another a mile west that could be his signal too. _To Riella's annoyance, Sam and Mikaela took off running the moment the sphere hit. ::Really? _Really? _Humans,:: she snapped over the comm, making sure Bumblebee could hear her too. With a sigh of annoyance, the technorganic followed, already knowing what they would see, but needing to make sure they didn't actually get too close. _Prowl, can you make contact?_

_Already trying._

The humans reached the field just in time to see the sphere unfold into a silver robot, one Riella recognized when he nodded to her before starting off toward the highway. A few simple instructions registered over the comlink, in Cybertronian, and Riella raised a hand lightly in acknowledgement. ::Copy that, sir.:: _Prowl! Never mind. It's Prime. I've got our instructions. Rendezvous in ten. _

Both of the humans had started to follow the new arrival, before Riella returned her attention to them and gestured for them to return. "Wait! We'll meet up with them soon enough. For now, you need to come with us."

They did, somewhat reluctantly, as she led them back to Prowl and Bumblebee. The Camaro opened his passenger-side door, and Riella gestured for them to get in. After a moment of hesitating, Sam got in. Mikaela looked back at the other woman. "Aren't you coming?"

"I have my own ride." Riella swung a leg over the motorcycle seat. "We'll be right behind you." ::Bumblebee, these coordinates are for a secluded location approximately the same distance from all of us. Prowl sent them to the others as well. Prime says ten minutes.::

It was almost exactly ten minutes' drive to the rendezvous point, which was a dark, empty alley that Prowl had chosen precisely because of its out-of-the-way quality. As Sam and Mikaela got out of the car, four other vehicles pulled into the other end of the alley. One was a search and rescue Hummer H2 that Riella recognized with a smile; one was a silver Pontiac Solstice; one was a black GMC TopKick, which drew a half-serious sigh from Prowl; and the final, and largest, one was a Peterbilt 379 semi-truck strongly resembling a Cybertronian vehicle.

Optimus transformed, taking an extra few seconds to adjust to the human form, and nodded to the remaining vehicles to do the same. Prowl and Bumblebee joined them, while Riella settled for simply standing at attention. Again, no need to terrify the poor humans any more. "Welcome to Earth, Prime."

Prime nodded to her. "Thank you, Riella. Excellent work, from all three of you." He bent down to look at the two humans. "Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?"

"They know your name!" Mikaela whispered, almost too quietly to be heard. _No, that was a lucky guess,_ Prowl commented dryly, but forgot to actually say it out loud. Riella smirked. Optimus glanced at them with a slightly raised eyebrow ridge, an expression that probably meant he didn't have to hear the comment to know it had been made.

"My name is Optimus Prime. We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron."

"But you can call us Autobots for short," the Hummer – Ratchet - added.

"What's cracking, little bitches?" The Pontiac Solstice, the smallest of the new arrivals (though still taller than Prowl or Riella), did a couple of unnecessary flips as Optimus introduced him. "My first lieutenant, designation Jazz."

Jazz did one more flip and landed in a sitting position on top of a nearby car. "This looks like a cool place to kick it."

Riella rolled her eyes. ::Honestly, Jazz, do you have to talk like that? I have enough trouble understanding your thought process without you using human slang. Besides, 'bitch' is a swear word.::

::Really? 'R you sure? Gets used all the time.::

::Yes, Jazz, we're sure,:: Prowl responded, ignoring Sam's comments and their leader's response. ::Even _I _know that.::

"My weapons specialist, Ironhide," Optimus continued, glancing sideways at the trio with a look that definitely meant _stay focused and stop acting like sparklings._

Ironhide's cannons spun and charged with a hum as the humans turned to look at him. "You feelin' lucky, punk?" Prowl and Riella grimaced simultaneously at the reference.

"Easy, Ironhide," Optimus warned, clearly not getting it.

"Just kiddin'." The weapons specialist looked slightly crestfallen. "I just wanted to show him my cannons."

::Surrrrre you did,:: Jazz commented dryly over the comlink. ::No intimidation here, no sir.::

"My medical officer, Ratchet." Optimus pointed to the Hummer with another annoyed glance at Jazz.

"Humans. Teenagers, apparently physically average for age and size…" Ratchet's optics flickered slightly as he scanned the two humans for any anomalies. "Hmm, the boy's pheromone level suggests he wants to mate with the female."

"Ratchet!" Riella fought back a snicker and shook her head at him. ::At least _try _to be subtle? That might be acceptable on Cybertron, but not here.::

::Everything we know about humans seems to indicate they are not, in any way, subtle,:: Ratchet responded coolly.

Riella rolled her eyes. Again. ::Ratchet. The Internet is quite possibly the worst way to learn about human sexuality. Trust me.::

_I notice he didn't say what Mikaela's pheromones are indicating. Probably for good reason. _Prowl's comment was followed by a mental chuckle.

_Shut up,_ Riella shot back affectionately. _That's none of our business. And don't you dare say that over the open comm, or Jazz will have a field day with it._

Ratchet looked ready to respond to Riella with a few choice comments about the Internet, but before he could actually say anything, Optimus pointedly moved on with the introductions. "You already know my tactician and scout commander, Prowl and Riella, and your guardian, Bumblebee."

"So you're my guardian, huh?" Sam looked up at Bumblebee, who was doing a few dance steps as his radio played. **Check on the rep, yep, second to none. **Riella smiled a bit at the dance and the song choice, but the human didn't. "Um, why can't you…when they can…"

"His vocal processors were damaged in battle." Ratchet pointed a small laser charge at Bumblebee's throat to check his status, causing the smaller Autobot to turn away in protest and cough. "I'm still working on them."

Mikaela looked up at Optimus and asked the most immediate question. Hmm, maybe the girl was reasonably intelligent after all. Certainly more confident than Sam. "Why are you here?"

"We are here looking for the AllSpark. And we must find it before Megatron."

"Mega-what?" Sam's response made Riella wonder if the human's hearing was intact. He might not know _who_ Megatron was, but surely the pronunciation of his name had been clear enough?

Optimus activated his hologram projector and began explaining. "Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just. Until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons..."

Riella didn't bother listening, despite the fact that she was probably supposed to. She didn't have to hear the story – she'd lived it. Instead, she turned to Ironhide. "Good to see you again, hotshot. Welcome to Earth."

"You too, ninja-femme," Ironhide growled fondly. "Prowl, what've you been up to, blastin' 'Cons and kickin' aft while the rest of us were stuck searchin' the galaxy?"

Riella shook her head at the comment from the brusque weapons specialist as Prowl responded. "No, just one Decepticon, and that was earlier today. Barricade. Could have used you as backup, though. Urban combat, close quarters."

"Hope you taught him who's boss."

Prowl shrugged. "He got away from us with a few severed cables in one leg and a lot of dents, but Bee took him out a few hours ago."

"He got away from you!" Ironhide barked out a laugh. "Losing your touch, are you?"

Prowl glared at the larger 'bot. "He took out my transform circuits! What was I supposed to do, chase him through a crowded city on foot? Besides, there were humans involved…"

Riella sighed and walked over toward Jazz, leaving her partner and Ironhide to argue. "Primus, some things never change. How was the trip, Jazz?"

"Dull," Jazz sighed, but brightened almost immediately. "Ya diggin' this planet or what? Everythin' available over that Internet, and humans sure have some interestin' customs. How come ya didn't tell me 'bout some of these human things?"

Riella climbed up onto the car to sit next to him. "I didn't know about all of them. Not human, remember? I've never been to this planet before. I will admit it's...fascinating. Of course, some things I honestly didn't _want_ to know."

Jazz nodded, grinning. "Feel ya there. So how'd ya come out against ol' Barricade? You're walkin' fine, so if he even got near ya, he didn't do much."

"No serious injuries. A couple of scrapes from falling on the concrete, but he never touched me. Prowl got the worst of it, and that wasn't too bad. He wasn't after us."

"Never thought 'Cade would pass up a chance to take out a couple of 'bots," the first lieutenant commented. "Gettin' soft?"

"He was after Sam Witwicky. Apparently the Decepticons know about the glasses with the coordinates, or at least they've made the connection between Archibald Witwicky and his great-grandson." Riella turned her attention back to Optimus and the humans just as he finished his explanation, with Ratchet's help.

"...they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army."

"And the human race will be extinguished." Optimus finished. Every Autobot turned to look at the two humans. "Sam Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival."

Mikaela looked at her 'boyfriend'. "Please tell me that you have those glasses."

Riella arched an eyebrow. "Was it ever in question?"


	4. Chapter 4: Search

**A/N: Not too much to edit here; mostly pacing and some description. I still think everyone mistaking the Chihuahua for a rat is funny, so there's a bit more of that, too. **

**Chapter 4: Search**

It wasn't a particularly long drive to the Witwicky house, but Riella wasn't happy with Optimus's insistence that they all stay together. After all, it wasn't every day a semi, a SAR Hummer, two fancy sports cars, a pickup, and a motorcycle drove through the residential area of town in a group, and if it had been daylight, they would have attracted massive amounts of attention. As it was, they got stares from just about every person they passed. Prowl agreed with her, but Optimus and Jazz had overruled their objections, saying that they were more than capable of dealing with any trouble their appearance caused, and 'undercover' was a relative term. So, rather reluctantly, the pair had fallen in with the rest of the group.

They parked in the alley behind Sam's house. Sam and Mikaela both jumped out of Bumblebee's passenger side door, Sam already deciding what they would do. Not very well, Riella and Prowl noted simultaneously – the boy was no tactician. "I need you to stay here, alright? You need to stay here and you gotta watch them."

Mikaela nodded, trying and failing to be reassuring. "Okay."

"All of them, you hear what I'm saying?" Sam looked nervously from one to the other.

"Yeah, okay," Mikaela said impatiently. "Go!"

"Five minutes, alright?" Sam ran across the yard toward the house to intercept his father at the back door. Riella grimaced. They would _have_ to deal with the parents at some point, she and Prowl were both sure.

Optimus started to transform. "We need to hurry."

"No, don't," Mikaela called nervously after him. "Wait! Hang on! You have to...oh, God."

Riella glanced apologetically at the younger woman. "Sorry. Too late."

Optimus had already stepped over the bushes into the back yard, and Bumblebee was pressed against the side of the house, gesturing for Sam to keep quiet. Riella glanced at Prowl, both of them sharing the same thought. _So much for stealth..._ Prowl gestured for the two females to enter the yard first, before stepping over the back fence.

Sam had managed to get his father to stay in the house, and was now panicking. Loudly. How was that _not _going to get the parents' attention? "What are you doing? What are you doing? No, watch the path, watch the path, please, please, please, no, wait, oh no!"

Optimus had already broken part of the path, and as he turned to face the boy, his foot landed on the fountain in the center of the yard, completely crushing it. "Oops, sorry. My bad."

Sam was almost incoherent. "Oh, I - I can't - you couldn't - you couldn't wait for five minutes?!" His voice got higher and higher as he spoke. "I told you to just stay! Just stay! Gah!" He ran toward Mikaela and Riella, skidded to a stop, and spun around. "I told you to watch them. I told you!"

Mikaela snapped back, "Well, okay, you know what, they seem to be in a little bit of a rush -"

"I do apologize for this, Sam. Most of us aren't used to..." Riella trailed off as she saw a small animal running out of the house. "Is that yours? You have a rat? Bumblebee didn't mention…"

"What? What? No. Oh, this is bad..." Sam didn't even seem to register her question until the animal started making sharp squeaks up at Ironhide. "No!"

The animal lifted its back leg, and proceeded to urinate directly on Ironhide's foot. Ironhide jerked his foot away with a grunt of disgust, and Jazz choked on laughter. Riella sighed as Sam ran toward them. "Mojo! Mojo, off the robot! Gah!"

Ironhide lifted his foot, obviously intending to crush the little animal. Sam picked it up and backed away. "Nononononono! Easy, easy, hold on! This is Mojo, this is Mojo. He's a pet of mine, he's a pet, okay, that's all!" Ironhide's cannons powered, and, if it were possible, Sam grew even more panicky. "Put the guns away! Put the guns away, put them away!"

Ironhide glared down at the human. "You have a rodent infestation. Shall I terminate?"

"Ironhide, don't." Prowl moved to the weapon specialist's side to stop him if necessary. "Not unless they ask, remember? Pets. Humans like pets. Even if they happen to be of the rodent family, apparently."

"No! Nonono! He's not a rodent, he's a Chihuahua! This is my - this is my Chihuahua! We - we love Chihuahuas! Don't we?" Sam looked at Mikaela for help.

Ironhide shook off Prowl's hand, grumbling and glaring down at the human. "He's leaked lubricants all over my foot!"

"He - he peed on you?" Sam shook the tiny animal slightly. "Bad Mojo, bad Mojo!"

"Bad Mojo!" Ironhide chimed in, powering his cannons again. Prowl and Riella exchanged bemused glances. _Do we step in?_

_Let's see what happens first. _

"I'm sorry, he's got a male dominance issue. That's all it is."

Ironhide retracted his cannons, grumbling. "Uh-huh. That's gonna rust."

::Not if you don't leave it,:: Ratchet chided. ::Don't be so dramatic.::

Sam ran across the yard again, shushing the Autobots on his way into the house. Jazz contacted Riella over the comm. ::What's a 'Chihuahua'?::

::Apparently, that little animal.:: Riella took a moment to look it up. ::A type of small dog.::

::That's a dog?:: Ratchet sounded shocked. ::I thought you said dogs were bigger. That thing really does look like a rodent.::

Riella shrugged. ::Humans are illogical, alright? On my home planet we had pet le-matya, not those little things.::

"Autobots, _recon_. We _are _on a schedule." Optimus glanced back at them in annoyance from around the side of the house, while Bumblebee leaned over to look through the windows.

::Careful, don't let anyone see you.:: Prowl checked around the other side of the house, while Riella glanced through the windows with Bee. Two adults, Sam's parents, were watching television, but other than that the house seemed quiet.

Optimus waited impatiently for less than a minute, then reached down to Mikaela and picked her up. She gasped with shock, but rather impressively, didn't fall out of his hand or start screaming.

"You can help him look. Time is short. Please hurry."

He held Mikaela up at the level of Sam's window, allowing her to climb through. Riella scrambled up onto the Autobot commander's shoulder, using various pieces of armor as hand and foot holds. "Really, Optimus, give them some time. Remember how confusing this must be for them."

"I know. But time is something we do not have."

"Relax. We are here, the glasses are here, and the Decepticons are not," Prowl pointed out. "But we do need to stay hidden."

"Very well. Autobots, transform."

The Autobots transformed into vehicle mode. Riella sighed, sliding off of Optimus's roof, and looked at Prowl, the only one still in robot mode. The black and gold Autobot shook his head in frustration. "Not precisely what I was suggesting, Prime."

Sam looked out his window, and Riella jumped slightly at the pitch of his voice. "What? No. No. No. This isn't hiding. This is my backyard, not a truck stop! Ahh!"

Optimus transformed again and went back over to the window. Riella rolled her eyes, for what seemed like the millionth time. ::Prime, sir, _please._..::

Sam ran back over to the window. "I can't deal with this, I can't...What! Oh no, no, no..."

Optimus glanced down at what had been a window box and was now a shattered pile of splinters. "Oops."

"That's my mother's flowers! - Okay, listen. You gotta listen to me. If my parents come out here and see you they're going to freak out. My mother's got a temper. Okay?"

Optimus did the Autobot equivalent of an exasperated sigh. "We must have the glasses!"

Riella looked up at the only Autobot who could stare down Prime. "Ratchet, would you do something, please? We're going to wreck the house as well as Sam's nervous system at this rate. We need to pull back and give him time."

Ratchet shrugged, but before he could say anything, Optimus gave the order. "Autobots, fall back."

"Thank Primus." Riella moved toward the back of the yard, listening to Ratchet berate Ironhide and Prime. "Move! What's the matter with you, can't you be quiet? He wants us to be quiet!"

Prowl glanced back, then looked very alarmed. "Ratchet, watch out for the - "

ZAP. CRASH. The ground shuddered under the weight of the fallen Autobot, and the lights in the houses flickered.

" - power lines."

The lights on Ratchet's chest flashed erratically. "Wow, that was tingly! Ohhh..." He tried to get up and fell back, tangled in the wires. "You'll have to try that!"

"Yeah, maybe sometime," Ironhide commented sarcastically, looking at the medic. Ratchet tried to get up again, and the lights went out in every house on the block.

Optimus sighed and reached down to pull the medical officer to his feet. "More delays. Let's give them some light."

The Autobots made their way back over to the house, and Riella, now on Prowl's shoulder, pointed to the window. "Ratchet, shine a light through there. That should be enough for them to search."

Ratchet was apparently still a bit shaky, because the light bounced erratically all over the room.

"Ratchet, point the light!" Jazz tried to help, and almost knocked the medic over.

Sam rushed to the window. "Okay, we got a major issue. What's with the light? You have to stop with the light. Turn it off. Turn it off!"

Ratchet wasn't cooperating, and Sam was still panicked. Riella had to wonder just how the boy had survived this long, if he always responded to crises this way. "Tell him to turn it off, please please please!"

"Turn it off, Ratchet!" Ironhide shoved the medic back as Sam's parents started calling to him through the door. Apparently they weren't happy that he wasn't opening the door. They were fairly loud; the Autobots could hear every word clearly. The parents had heard them talking as well, and were asking some very awkward questions.

::What's 'masturbating'?:: Bumblebee's question came over the open comm channel, to anyone who cared to answer.

Riella blushed. ::Look it up, Bee. I had this talk with you once, I'm _not_ having it again on an open line with Optimus and Jazz::

Apparently most of the Autobots took her suggestion, because a moment later their cooling vents switched on in the robotic equivalent of blushing. ::Humans are disgusting.:: Ironhide commented.

::Why's she bringin' that up?::

::I don't know, Jazz, and I don't think I want to know.:: Riella glanced back toward the window. Optimus did the same.

"Parents!" Everyone rushed to move away from the windows as the parents came through looking for the source of the light, Jazz dragging Ratchet with him. Optimus jerked back just in time, and in the process bumped into the side of the house, causing it to shake. The humans started yelling again, about 'aftershocks'.

"Quick, hide!" Optimus flattened himself back against the side of the house, Ironhide ducked around the corner and hauled Ratchet behind him, and Bumblebee, Jazz, and Prowl ducked underneath the parts of the house that jutted out. Riella clung to one of Prowl's shoulder fins, keeping her head down to avoid hitting it on the porch lights.

Sam's father leaned out the window. "Judy, better call the city, we've got a blown transformer."

::Yeah, I agree, Ratch' isn't firing on all cylinders right now. Wait, he didn't see us, did he?::

::No, Ironhide, the 'transformer' he means is a device on the power lines.:: Prowl sent back. ::Is Ratchet okay?::

::I think that jolt scrambled his circuits, but yeah, doesn't look like permanent damage. The parents are irritating. Can I take them out?::

Ratchet chimed in, unfortunately not over the comm line. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Ironhide, you know we don't harm humans!" Optimus snapped, sounding more stressed than Riella had heard in a long time. "What is with you?"

"Well, I'm just saying we could. It's an option." Ironhide almost looked like he was pouting. It wasn't particularly cute.

"Calm down, 'Hide, you'll get your chance to shoot something eventually." Riella glanced past him. "Someone smack Ratchet over the head, please? Not hard enough to do any damage."

Ironhide obliged, whacking the medic up the side of the head. Ratchet blinked, shook his head, then glared at the weapons specialist. "What was that for?"

Riella smirked. "Cognitive recalibration."

Jazz, the only one who had been paying attention to the road, tapped Optimus's shoulder. "Look, we got humans incomin'!"

Sure enough, there was a convoy of black S.U.V's heading down the road their way. Scans indicated that all of them had human drivers.

Riella slid off Prowl's shoulder. "Prime, fall back. I'll keep an eye on things here, since I'm not as obvious as the rest of you."

"Alright. But please hurry back with the glasses."

"Yes, sir." Riella took up a position at the side of the house, listening, as the other Autobots moved quietly out of the yard.


	5. Chapter 5: Capture

**A/N: Same idea here as the last chapter. This was a short one, so pretty easy to go through. **

**Chapter 5: Capture**

Riella watched as men in black exited the S.U.V's and spread out over the yard. One went to the front door, while the others began searching and mapping the yard. The young woman pressed herself back into the shadows, keeping a sharp lookout for anyone coming her way. It was a pity stealth mode wouldn't work at the moment.

The man at the door rang the doorbell, repeatedly. Riella had never understood the need of some beings to do something over and over in hopes that it would happen faster, but it did have an effect here, as Sam's father answered the door.

"Ronald Wickity?"

"It's Witwicky. Who are you?"

"With the government. Sector Seven." The man held up a badge.

"Never heard of it."

"Never will."

Riella arched an eyebrow and opened a comm line again ::Riella to Prime.::

::Prime here.::

::We're dealing with this country's government.::

::Oh, wonderful. Do you have the glasses?::

::No. The government agents have just entered the house. Sam hasn't come out. Could you research a government branch called 'Sector Seven'?::

::Jazz here. Already on it, like sparks on a plug.::

Riella had to smile. ::Thanks, Jazz.::

One of the government men moved closer to her. She made a quick decision. It would be too difficult to hide for long, not if she wanted to stay close.

::Prime, I'm going to break cover. This way, it won't look like I have anything to hide. If they take me anywhere, you'll be able to follow my energy signal.::

::Are you sure?:: Prime's question came at the same time as Prowl's. _What? You could get hurt!_

::Yes. Riella out.:: To Prowl, she answered, _I'll be fine. You're close enough to help, and anyway, since when have I had trouble with humans?_

She stepped out of the shadows and walked straight up to one of the men. "Is there a problem here, sir?"

"Do you live here?" the man barked, looking her over rapidly. She could practically see the analysis running through his head.

"No, I'm a friend of their son. Can I help you?"

The man turned and called to two others. "Better take her inside too, Simmons will want to talk to her."

The men grabbed her upper arms, a bit harder than necessary. While she could have easily broken away and knocked them both out, she went with them quietly, hoping to get more information from "Simmons", whoever he was.

Riella was led into the house just as Judy Witwicky announced to one of the men, "You better get those guys out of my garden or I am going to _beat the crap out of them!_"

Riella chuckled. _Sam wasn't kidding about his mother's temper,_ she sent through the bond.

The government agent - Simmons, she assumed - greeted Sam all too cheerfully. "Hi, how you doing, son? Your name Sam?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I'm going to need you to come with us."

Both parents protested, and Riella had to resist the temptation to plant a "suggestion" that the government agents not try anything – it would have been easy, with them insisting on someone holding her arm at all times, but it could have been detected. Trouble with this man was the last thing they needed. She did, however, walk over to stand with them, making sure the holographic skin over her metal arms was in place.

A man took some readings with a device that Riella recognized as measuring radiation levels, then almost ran over to Simmons. "Sir! I think - _direct contact_!"

Simmons looked from the man, to Riella and Sam's family, back at the man, then over at them again before scanning Sam with the device. On the way back up, the scanner caught Riella's right arm, and she sighed internally, knowing what the result would be. When he took Sam's readings, his eyes widened; when he took Riella's readings, they got bigger then she'd ever thought human eyes could.

He stared for a moment, then yelled, "Bingo! Tag 'em and bag 'em!"

Riella allowed the men to escort her outside, noting their positions relative to the other humans and the cars out of habit, as Judy Witwicky yelled at the men again. "You hurt my dog, I'll kick your ass!" The Autobot wouldn't have been surprised if she tried, too, but thankfully she didn't.

Riella was pushed into the back seat of one of the S.U.V.'s, along with Sam and Mikaela. She was sitting in the center, between them. As the car pulled away from the house, she contacted her bondmate again. _They've arrested the whole family, but I think Sam has the glasses. Follow my energy signal. They haven't recognized what I am, so we should be able to use the comm links._

She looked back toward the house, knowing that even though this wasn't exactly good, she would be safe. After all, she was an Autobot with a bondmate. They would come for her. All she had to do was be patient.


	6. Chapter 6: Rescue

**A/N: Mostly changes to Riella's character, here. As originally written, she was a lot more emotional and reacted in a very human way to most of the events here; after the edit, she's changed to be more in line with her depiction in other places.**

**Chapter 6: Rescue**

Riella watched Simmons in the front seat, as he turned to look back at her. She kept her hands behind her back, even though the handcuffs were no longer functional as of three seconds after being put on, and glanced toward Mikaela and then Sam. The humans seemed remarkably calm, especially given how panicked Sam had been only a few minutes ago. Possibly, they were more comfortable around threatening humans than non-threatening giant robots. Riella had to admit that it made a certain amount of sense; the humans were familiar, despite the danger.

Her internal comm unit beeped, indicating an incoming call. She carefully activated it without moving a muscle. ::Riella here.::

::Riella-girl, it's Jazz. Looked up that Sector Seven group you were askin' 'bout.::

::And? What did you learn?::

::That it don't exist. Least, not 's far as the rest of th' country's concerned.::

::What? Explain.::

::It's "classified". Guess that means we ain't gettin' much on it other than it's a gov'rnment group.::

::Okay. Thanks anyway.::

::I ain't done yet. Got a few more places to look.::

::While you're at it, would you look up an Agent Simmons who's apparently fairly high up in the group?::

::Can do.::

::Thanks, again. Riella out.::

She looked up to see Simmons staring at her. "Young lady?"

Uh-oh.

She managed a smile. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. What did you say?"

"I asked, what do you believe about aliens?" Simmons looked slightly annoyed.

"Aliens? As in, foreigners?" Riella knew exactly what he meant, but decided to have some fun with this. "Well, I believe they're generally harmless, except when illegal immigration gets out of control..."

"Not that! Aliens, as in beings from other planets!" Simmons looked really annoyed now.

"Ohhh..." Riella paused, faking surprise, then said, "I know there isn't life on any other planet in this solar system, and nobody has the technology to travel outside of it yet, so why do you ask?"

Simmons opened his jacket and pulled out his badge. "See this? This is like a do-whatever-I-want-and-get-away-with-it badge."

"Right." Sam was obviously intimidated. Riella, who was less impressed, took a quick scan of the badge to send to Jazz later. It might help his research.

"I'm gonna lock you up, _forever_!" Simmons gave what was probably supposed to be a frightening look, but just made Riella want to laugh.

Sam swallowed hard, staring at the man, then Mikaela spoke up. "Guys, you know what, don't listen to him. He's just pissy 'cause he's got to get back to guarding the mall."

Riella couldn't hold back a smirk, despite not entirely understanding the joke. That obviously upset the government agent, who glared at Mikaela. "You! In the training bra! Do not test me."

"Don't talk to her like that!" Riella spoke up angrily, humor gone in an instant. _Prowl, we might have a problem._

"Shut up. I'll get to you in a minute." Simmons turned back to Mikaela. "Especially with your daddy's parole coming up."

"What? Parole?" Sam stared at his girlfriend.

"It's nothing!" Mikaela was clearly upset, and Riella looked over at her in concern. "Easy, there..." _Yes. Definite problem. Where are you?_

_About a mile behind you and closing._

"Oh, grand theft auto, that ain't nothing?" Simmons was looking far too smug.

Mikaela looked apologetically at Sam. "You know those cars my dad used to teach me to fix? Well, they...they weren't always his."

"You stole cars?" Sam whispered.

"Not helping," Riella muttered. _Okay, Prowl. What's your ETA?_

"Well, we couldn't always afford a babysitter, so sometimes he had to take me along."

Simmons broke in again. "She's got her own juvie record to prove it! She's a criminal!" Riella didn't hear the rest of the sentence, thanks to Prowl's response to her question. _Ninety-three seconds, assuming no acceleration or deceleration._

_Sounds good. Got a plan?_

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Simmons was yelling at Riella again, and her patience finally ran out.

"No, I'm not," she snapped, ignoring the shock from both Sam and Mikaela. "You've got nothing interesting to say. Can you just let me know when you're done?"

_Plan's coming in from Optimus. He's on an intercept course with you._

Just then, her comm unit beeped again, followed by Optimus's voice. ::Riella, can you take control of the vehicle?::

She activated her comm again, not caring if Simmons noticed this time. ::Yes, it only took me a few seconds to get out of the handcuffs. Why?::

::Do it on three. Turn hard left.::

::Acknowledged.::

_One. Two._

"Hey, what are you-"

_Three._

Riella lunged out of her seat and grabbed for the wheel, turning it hard to the left. The man in the driver's seat yanked back, though, and the car skidded out of control, smashing full force into something and spinning around.

"Big! It's big!" The driver was screaming, as Riella grabbed Simmons' arms and pinned him back against the seat before he could go for a gun.

Metal hands slammed through either side of the car, grabbing it by the roof and lifting it off the ground. Everyone in the car started yelling, Riella into her comm. "Optimus, what the slag are you doing?"

There was a loud crunch, the roof of the car ripped off, and the bottom half landed on the ground at the Autobot commander's feet. Riella lost her grip on Simmons, but it didn't seem to matter – he was partly stunned.

Sam grinned. "You a-holes are in trouble now. Gentlemen, I wanna introduce you to my friend: Optimus Prime."

"Taking the children was a bad move," Optimus growled, nodding to Riella in acknowledgement. "Autobots, relieve them of their weapons."

"Freeze!" Ironhide barked, as Jazz activated a magnet and pulled the guns away from the humans. "Gimme those!"

Riella stood up on the seat and hopped out of the car just in time to land in Prowl's hand. He picked her up, holding her in the crook of his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about the crash, I didn't manage to get the wheel away from him."

"It worked out." Prowl's engine hummed lightly as he added over the bond, _You hit Optimus, not me. I think that was his plan._

_Why am I not surprised?_

Of course Simmons was ranting. Why wouldn't he be? "Look, there are S-7 protocols, okay? I'm not authorized to communicate with you, except to tell you I can't communicate with you."

"Illogical," Prowl commented. "Why would you not be authorized? You have to communicate with us somehow..."

"Don't think about it, Prowl, you'll glitch." Riella shook her head. "I believe it's a redundant policy meant to prevent interrogation."

"Get out of the car," Optimus ordered, ignoring their discussion.

"All right. Me? You want me to get out of the -"

"NOW!" Ironhide barked.

"All right, all right, I'm getting out. I'm getting out. You see? Very nifty how you put us down without actually killing us." Simmons still seemed more impressed than frightened. Riella fought the temptation to really scare him. "This is real!"

"I believe the human phrase is "duh"," Prowl said dryly. "If we are not real, why do you exist?"

"I'm not authorized to - "

Sam jumped in with questions. "What is Sector Seven? Answer me!"

"I'm the one who asks the questions around here, not you, young man!" Simmons glared. Riella still wasn't particularly impressed.

"How did you know about the aliens? Where did you take my parents?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss it!"

"No?" Sam reached in and took Simmons' badge, ignoring his protests. "Do-whatever-I-want-and-get-away-with-it badge, right?"

"Yeah, he's brave now with his big alien friends standing over there..."

"What is Sector Seven?" Riella interrupted, taking the badge from Sam with a frown. ::Prime, there's something going on here. He's stalling us.::

::I agree. Try to get whatever you can, but we should go.::

"Wouldn't you like to know, lady?" Simmons gave her a smug grin. "You don't scare _me. _Pretty girl with a couple of tough friends, that's all you are."

::Someone tell him to shut up,:: Bumblebee muttered over the comm system. ::Or I'll do it.::

::Leave it, Bee,:: Prowl warned. ::We've heard worse.::

Riella stepped over to Simmons and got right in his face, but left her holograms on for the moment. "You _will _answer me," she warned. "One way or another."

Simmons smirked at her. They were roughly at eye level. "Or what? You've got nothing to threaten me with, _bitch._"

::Alright, that's it!::

Riella heard the cap pop off Bumblebee's lubricant tank behind Simmons and stepped back just in time, as lubricant shot out in a stream and hit Simmons on the head.

"Hey!"

Jazz cracked up laughing as Optimus scolded, "Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man!" Riella sighed, exchanged a glance with Prowl, and said dryly over the comm line, ::And I thought tasteless humor was your brothers' job. I appreciate the support, but next time let me handle that.::

Bumblebee obediently put the cap back on, muttering, ::Sorry. Couldn't resist. But did you see the look on his face?::

::It was impossible to miss.:: Riella moved away from Simmons and began helping handcuff the government agents, continuing over the comm line. ::I'm picking something up every time I touch them. Humans aren't easy to read with touch telepathy, but I think we should go.::

::Agreed,:: Ratchet responded. ::Might want to drag your humans away from the leader, then.::

Riella turned around to see Simmons, stripped down to his underpants and ranting at the top of his lungs, and sighed. "Sam! Mikaela! Was this really necessary?"

"He threatened my dad!" Mikaela protested. Riella grimaced. That was harder to argue with.

::Nice shorts:: Jazz snickered from somewhere behind them. Riella rolled her eyes. ::You _would_ find this funny. Prime, can we go?::

::Yes. Autobots, prepare to move out.::

Before anyone could actually obey the order, several more government cars, along with helicopters, came down the street toward them, lights flashing.

"Slag," Ironhide cursed. "Optimus! Incoming!"


	7. Chapter 7: Lost

**A/N: More character changes to Riella, here, to make her more clearly a warrior and a tactician. In the original, she reacted too much like a human civilian – panicking, getting angry, not really thinking anything through – which isn't what I wanted for the character at all. **

**Chapter 7: Lost**

"Roll out! Now!" Optimus ordered. "Bumblebee, you're too recognizable – go. Riella, stay with me. We'll take the humans." Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchet, and Ironhide obeyed immediately; Prowl took a moment to look at Riella.

_I'll be fine,_ she assured him. _Don't worry, I'm sure Optimus has a plan._

_If you say so..._ The motorcycle followed the other Autobots away from the arriving vehicles.

"Up you get." Riella turned to see Optimus holding a hand out to Sam and Mikaela. They hesitated for a moment, then climbed on. Riella opted to scramble up his leg and then onto his shoulder again. Optimus placed the humans on his other shoulder, then turned and sprinted, the helicopters in pursuit.

::Sir? Is there a reason you're not transforming? We could lose them easily that way.::

::If you want to transform, be my guest. You're small enough to get away with it. I'd damage most of the area trying to avoid them.::

Riella bit her lip. ::Should have thought of that. I'll stay.::

::That's what I thought. I have an idea. Stay ready.::

Optimus swerved around a corner, dropped down under the bridge, and grabbed onto the bottom of it, dangling over the river for a moment before swinging his legs up. In this position, they were all but invisible.

"Good thinking," Riella whispered as two helicopters flew by underneath them, searchlights on. She then caught her breath as she heard a familiar engine. ::Bee! What the frag are you doing?::

::Sam is my responsibility. I need to stay close to him.::

::We've got him! Stay with the others.::

::They're fine. I'll be there in just a few seconds.::

::Bumblebee! That was a direct -::

Riella's scolding broke off as she heard Mikaela cry out. The girl had slipped when Riella hadn't been looking, and was now dangling over the river, clinging to Sam's hand. "No, Sam, don't drop me, don't drop me! Sam, don't! I'm slipping! I'm slipping!"

"Hold on!" Optimus struggled to catch the two of them as Sam lost his grip. Riella lunged forward, trying to catch Sam, but her hand slid off Optimus's shoulder, and she fell after Sam and Mikaela.

::BEE!::

The Camaro transformed in mid-air, catching the humans in one hand and Riella in the other. He landed in a rolling skid, tucking Sam and Mikaela closer to his body to protect them; Riella tumbled out of his hand and rolled across the ground, slightly stunned but otherwise unhurt.

They were spotted immediately, of course. The helicopters closed in, one shooting a cable with hooks on the end. It caught Bumblebee in the shoulder, and he made a squeaking sound of pain. Riella ran toward him as another cable caught the other shoulder. "Bee! Stay still, I'm coming."

A third cable caught Bumblebee's ankles, throwing him to the ground. He started thrashing in panic. "Stop! Bee!" Riella made it to his side as he continued to make protesting noises. "Bee, hold still!" She activated her right blade and sliced through the nearest cable, but before she could get to the next one, the humans were racing toward her, firing guns and shouting. "Get down! Get down on the ground!" A bullet bounced off her shoulder, leaving a slight sting in its wake.

Three humans tackled her, dragging her away from Bumblebee as the humans fired some form of gas at him. At his pained screech, Riella finally lost it, launching all three humans off of her with rapid blows and lunging back toward Bumblebee. "Stop it! Frag you all, _leave him alone! _He's not hurting you! Stop!"

The cables pulled tight, flattening Bumblebee against the ground. "No!" Riella activated both blades, spinning around and blocking the humans' path to the younger Autobot. "_ENOUGH!_ I will _not_ let you hurt him!" The government agents in front of her stopped and hesitated, wide eyes fixed on the twin weapons. She gritted her teeth – transforming would ensure they backed off, but was it worth it? Behind her, Bumblebee made another pained sound, and anger tightened in her throat. _Don't hurt humans, don't hurt humans…_

Prowl could sense her emotions, and she became dimly aware that her bondmate was coming back for her. _Riella, don't! Just wait! I'm coming back, I'm coming, we can handle this…_

A sudden hail of bullets surrounded Riella, and she flinched as they slammed into her shoulders, torso, and the arm she'd thrown up to shield her eyes. _Prowl, hurry!_ Something grabbed her from behind, and on pure reflex she spun and sliced downward, nearly taking off the unlucky human's arm. The Cybertronian blade went through Kevlar easily, and blood splattered across Riella's chest. Shocked, she jerked back. "No! I –" Three more humans grabbed for her, and she barely had time to deactivate her blades before blocking their attempts at hitting her. Just as she sent the last one stumbling away with a quick side-kick to the chest, something solid smacked into the back of her head. The blow jolted something inside the wrong way, and she collapsed, the world going dark around her.

On the bridge, Prowl nearly lost control as he sensed his mate's loss of consciousness, and sensed the humans dumping her unconscious form into a car. "No! Riella!" _Riella! _Ironhide caught his shoulders and dragged the much smaller 'bot back, pinning him easily despite his protests.

"Hang back, let me check it out. Prowl, I said _hang back!_" Jazz swung down over the railing, trying to get a better view, and winced at the sight below. "Optimus, we can't jus' stand here an' do nothin'! I can take Prowl an' – "

"No, Jazz." Optimus pulled himself up onto the bridge, shaking his head sadly. "There's no way to free Bumblebee and Riella without harming the humans."

"_What?_" Prowl tore away from Ironhide and lunged toward his commanding officer, stopping just short of grabbing the larger 'bot by the shoulders. "That's _Riella _and_ Bee_ we're talking about! Do you think the humans have any problems with harming _them? _Do you have any idea what they could do to her? To him?"

"Easy, mech." Jazz put a restraining hand on Prowl's arm. "Optimus, it's not right. They -"

"Let them leave." Optimus reached down and picked up the glasses that had fallen from Sam's pocket, unnoticed.

"_NO!_" Prowl shoved Jazz back, trying to get to the vehicles that by now were pulling away. Ironhide and Ratchet had to hold him back again. "Prowl, _think_," Ratchet snapped. "You'll just be putting her in danger if you attack now. Riella will be okay – no human bullet could damage her, not for long. And she would never let them hurt Bumblebee. Remember, there's a lot more to her than they've seen."

Prowl sighed, then relaxed. "You're right. I – I apologize, Optimus." The other two released him, although Ironhide stayed close enough to grab him again and shot him a warning look.

Optimus rested a hand briefly on his tactician's shoulder before turning to lead the way off the bridge. Prowl stared after the convoy of human vehicles, as the one carrying Riella disappeared into the distance. Over the bond, he called out, knowing her subconscious would register the contact even if she wasn't awake. _Riella...I love you...I'll come for you, I promise..._


	8. Chapter 8: Tell The Truth

**A/N: Chapter title change (the original was corny) and some adjustments to Riella, Bumblebee, and Prowl. **

**Chapter 8: Tell The Truth**

Riella woke up in the back of a government S.U.V. She'd been handcuffed, and there was a Sector Seven agent on either side of her. When she moved, she felt a gun press into her ribs, and almost laughed. Did they really think it would work? "Don't even think about trying anything, missy, or you'll end up in even more trouble."

"You don't need to threaten me," she said tiredly. Her processor had done a full reset, but it wasn't too bad. "I'm not going anywhere without Bumblebee."

The agents didn't look like they believed her, but they didn't say anything more. Riella tried to activate her comm unit, but only got static. "Slag," she muttered quietly. Signal jammer. No surprise, really; when she looked out the window, she could see that the sun was rising, and they were surrounded by S.U.V's, all driven by humans. She'd been unconscious for several hours.

After about another hour, during which Riella entertained herself by glaring at the S7 agents until they looked away, they came to a stop, and she was pushed of the vehicle ahead of the other two. A few yards away, Riella could see Sam and Mikaela getting out of another S.U.V, along with Simmons, and heading toward a helicopter. She looked around frantically, and almost called out when she saw Bumblebee, still feebly squeaking, strapped to a truck. "Bee!" She rapidly activated her comm again as she was pushed away from him. ::Bee! Bumblebee, come in...Bee, please respond, please!::

She got a few clicks in response, then, ::*kkhhhtt*Riella?*khhht*:: The transmission was faint, and heavily laced with static, but it was there.

::Bee! It's me...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll get you out of here, I promise...::

::*kkkhhhkkk*Not your...*kzzt*...fault*kkhhhht*::

::I know that, but I promise – we'll get out of here. It'll be okay.::

One of the agents poked her slightly with the gun. "Listen up, tough girl. We're going to take these cuffs off, but one wrong move and they go back on, and you're sedated. Got it?"

She nodded distractedly, still watching Bumblebee. For a moment, as they removed the handcuffs, she thought about running to him, but decided it wouldn't help in the long run. She let them push her toward the helicopter, keeping her eyes locked with the Autobot's optics.

::Can you hold on until I have a chance to get to Sam and Mikaela?::

::*khht*Think so...*khhht*::

::Alright. I'll make it quick, I promise. Hang in there..::

She lost sight of Bumblebee as she was pushed into the helicopter. She sat down between Sam and a woman she didn't recognize, putting on the ear protectors and microphone she was handed. None of them spoke as the helicopter took off.

Sam finally broke the silence. "So..."

"What'd they get you for?" The woman beside Riella looked in their direction.

"I bought a car," Sam grimaced. "Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?"

"Oh. Nice. I'm still figuring out what I did, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with alien robots too." The woman glanced at Riella, curiously. "You?"

"Same idea, sort of." Riella shrugged.

"Sort of?"

After a moment of internal debate, Riella decided that she might as well be honest. Sam and Mikaela had already seen enough, anyway. "Which version of the truth do you want? I could say I'm here because I got mixed up with them, which is true if you rely on technicalities and assumptions, and is probably the story the government's going to get. I could say I'm here because I got involved with alien robots, which is true if you leave a few facts out. So...which one?"

"How about you try the real truth?" Mikaela leaned over Sam to make herself heard. "You're obviously with them. I mean, Optimus Prime introduced you as one of his commanders – whatever that's supposed to mean. And I saw..." She gestured toward Riella's arms, still covered by her hologram projection. "When that...thing..."

"Barricade. Decepticon."

"Right, whatever. You were fighting, and your arm...it was, like, some kind of metal. With a knife on it. And whatever comes out when you get cut...it's not blood. It's green." Mikaela stopped for a moment to just stare at Riella. "You look human, but I don't think you really are. What _are_ you?"

Riella took a deep breath. Well, the girl was smart enough to have guessed the truth, or pretty close to it. "I'll tell you, but you need to leave this out of any answers you give the government, got it? And that goes for all of you. This is one I have to explain, or it's going to cause mass panic."

"Okay," Mikaela said, Sam nodding. "We won't mention it."

The two on the other side added their agreement. "Sure. You've got me curious now," the woman said. "By the way, I'm Maggie, and this is Glen."

"I'm Sam." "And I'm Mikaela."

Almost as one, all of them turned to look at Riella, who stared straight ahead before deactivating the holograms hiding her metal arms, and pushing her hair back to reveal pointed ears, upward-curving eyebrows, and silvery scars lacing her forehead and cheekbone. "Nice to meet all of you. I am Riella, sparkmate to Prowl, third Autobot scout commander and Cyber-Ninja. I serve as a scout, tactician, and front-line fighter for the Autobot forces, as well as directing a third of our intelligence forces. I was born one-quarter human and three-quarters Vulcan, but after nearly being killed in a battle after moving to Cybertron, I was rebuilt as a technorganic: part organic, mostly Cybertronian."

All four humans stared at her, eyes wide. Sam's jaw dropped. None of them seemed to be able to find their voices, but the Autobot woman could anticipate their questions. "A 'sparkmate' is the equivalent of a human spouse, so you would say I am married to Prowl. Not quite the same, but close enough. A Cyber-Ninja is an Autobot who is fully trained in the Cybertronian martial arts, and 'Vulcan' is the name of the planet I was born on as well as the name of my mother's species. Vulcans are superficially similar to humans with significant internal differences; even before being rebuilt I was stronger and faster than any human, and I have retained my touch telepathy. I can change into a robot if I need to, but I am not going to do it right now. It would crash the helicopter. Oh, and in this mode I do bleed; Vulcan blood is green. Did I cover everything?"

Sam finally found his voice. "You - you're, like, an - an alien?"

"Affirmative."

"Wh-why didn't you...say anything?" Mikaela's expression mirrored Sam's. "Wait, you can read minds? Do we – do I – " Every human in the helicopter suddenly looked very worried.

"You have nothing to worry about," Riella assured them. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the telepathy. "It relies on physical contact, and I have to use it consciously. I have no interest in reading any of your minds."

"Okay, then." Maggie studied her warily and slid a few inches to the left. Riella couldn't blame her.

Sam suddenly started laughing, although he stayed an arm's length from Riella. Everyone looked at him in alarm. "Sam? Are you alright?" Riella arched an eyebrow.

"I just realized something. Simmons asked an _alien_ what she believed about aliens! Hahahahahahaha!"

Riella smiled, shaking her head. "I had far too much fun with that. Our next conversation should be just as interesting."

Mikaela giggled, and soon Maggie and Glen were laughing as well. Riella suspected the laughter was more due to stress release than anything particularly funny, but she enjoyed it anyway. There wouldn't be much to laugh about soon.

Gradually, the laughter died away, and the humans returned to staring at the technorganic woman. "Remember, avoid mentioning anything I just told you," Riella warned. "Unless you're interested in dealing with Sector Seven on a paranoid hunt for technorganics."

There was a murmured chorus of "okay", then everyone went quiet again.

After about an hour, the helicopter started to descend. When it landed, they were quickly ushered out. Riella got a glimpse of their location: Hoover Dam. Her attention, however, was quickly drawn to Bumblebee, being unloaded. He was still strapped down, and let out a couple of feeble metallic moans.

"Bee..." Riella winced, even though she knew it was mostly due to the damage to his vocalizer. ::Bee!::

::…How was your…trip?:: Bumblebee rasped over the comm link. Riella could have sworn he was smirking.

::You're playing it up, aren't you?::

::Why not?::

Prowl paced impatiently, waiting for Optimus to finish scanning a hologram through Archibald Witwicky's glasses. "Are we _done _yet?"

"The code on these glasses indicates the AllSpark is two hundred and thirty miles from here." Optimus turned off the hologram, satisfied, and gestured to the remaining Autobots.

"I suspect the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilize," Ratchet warned.

Ironhide agreed. "They must know it's here as well."

Prowl was barely listening. "Yes, of course they do, they've been here longer than we have. Now what about Riella? And Bumblebee?"

At Optimus's hesitation, Jazz climbed down from the wall where he had been keeping watch. "We can't just leave 'em to die, or become some - human experiment, Prime. Ya know that."

"They'll die in vain if we don't accomplish our mission," Optimus pointed out quietly.

"They don't have to die at all!" Prowl turned and reached for the hologram projector. "Okay, so if I'm right in what I'm picking up from the bond, they're in the same direction as the AllSpark. So we can take a detour, find their location, and - "

"No, Prowl." Optimus put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "They are brave soldiers. This is what they would want."

"No!" Prowl jerked away, frustrated. "You can't just abandon them! This isn't Cybertron, Optimus! We have no idea what the humans are capable of!"

"Why are we fighting to save these humans? They're a primitive and violent race." Ironhide's optics narrowed.

Prowl turned away, desperately reaching out to his mate. He could feel her distress at being separated from the others, her concern for Bumblebee, her rising anger at being held prisoner. _Riella, I'm coming for you, I promise – even if I have to ditch Prime to do it._

"Were we so different? They're a young species, they have much to learn. But I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."

Prowl tried his comm system frantically, hoping for an active signal. ::Riella, come in! Riella!:: Her signal was still being jammed.

When he turned his attention back to Optimus, the leader was finishing his speech. "We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes. It's been an honor serving with you all."

"Wait!" Prowl interrupted, realizing they were about to leave. This was his last chance. He was a tactician – surely there was something he could figure out. "Optimus, wait. Jazz and I could go after Riella. You don't need all of us, not if you're just trying to locate the AllSpark."

Optimus was already shaking his head. "I can't afford to lose more of you. I need Jazz as a second commander, in case we have to split up while looking."

"If we can't afford to lose anyone, then we _need _Riella and Bumblebee back," Prowl pointed out. "If you can't spare Jazz, I can go alone. I can follow the bond, find Riella on my own."

Optimus considered for a moment. "You think you can rescue them by yourself, _without_ harming any humans? We won't be able to back you up."

"Yes," Prowl responded confidently. "And I won't be alone. Riella is still undercover, as far as I can tell. She'll be my backup."

"All right." Optimus bent down slightly to look his tactician in the eye. "But if we call and tell you that we need you to come to our location, you will do it right then, whether you have them or not. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Prowl transformed impatiently, ready to leave.

"Autobots, roll out!"

"We rollin'!" Jazz quipped, as the five of them left, four on the road and one taking the direct, but offroad, route to Hoover Dam.


	9. Chapter 9: AllSpark

**A/N: Usual Riella changes, some Banachek and Simmons changes, and better descriptions. I like the way Riella turned out in this one after the edit. **

**Chapter 9: AllSpark**

Riella looked over the side of the dam. It was fairly impressive, even by her standards. She only had a moment to admire it, though, before she, Sam, and Mikaela were escorted over to Simmons.

"Hey, kid," he said to Sam, ignoring Mikaela and Riella. "I think we got off to a...bad start, huh? You guys must be hungry. You want a latte? HoHo? Vente Macchiato?"

"Where's Bumblebee?" Riella stepped in front of Sam, forcing Simmons to notice her.

"Uh...who?"

"My car? You know, the one you took?" Sam glared at Simmons.

"Son, young lady, I need you to listen to me very carefully." A man Riella hadn't seen before, wearing another Sector Seven badge, walked up behind Simmons. "People can die here. We need to know everything you know, and we need to know it now."

Riella straightened her shoulders and looked him in the eye. Her patience was rapidly running out. "Really? You think you need to tell me people can die? You want to know everything I know, and you think you can demand that I tell you?" She took a step forward. The man took a step back. "Well, think again! I'm not giving you anything until Bumblebee is released, _unharmed."_

"You cannot make demands of me, young woman," the agent snapped. "Back away from me. I don't care if you do have alien friends, you have _no _authority to do _anything _other than answer my questions."

"Really? You want to play it this way? _Fine!_" Riella's temper snapped completely. She was finished dealing with human incompetence. "You think you have some authority over me? I command _armies_, you moron. You think you can intimidate me with a gun? I've been fighting a war since before any of you were _born!_ You want information about Autobots? Try talking to one!" A single thought triggered her transformation sequence.

Arms, legs, and torso extended and expanded, as her armor locked into place, and slight pain prickled through her organic skin as the metal separated and covered it. The simple helm flipped into place over the top of her head, wheels extended from midway down each calf, spinning for a moment before the latches kicked in, and Riella relaxed her stance to allow the lower leg to form and extend into narrow feet and heel struts. Intense blue-green optics glowed in the center of a pale metal face, and the red Autobot symbol appeared on the center of the silver windshield in the center of her chest. When the transformation had completed, she was no longer an unusual-looking organic woman, but a fifteen-foot-tall female Autobot.

She leaned down to look the stunned government agents in the eye. "Now where. Is. Bumblebee?" Her voice retained its accent, but now had the same metallic echo as another Autobot's would have.

"What the hell _are_ you?!" the unknown agent demanded, stumbling backward in shock.

Simmons' eyes widened, although he backed off as well. "You're one of them...and I had you right under my nose and didn't realize!" He grinned, very nervously. He'd apparently only just noticed how close he was to a very angry, very functional Autobot. "I – I bet you can – "

"_Answer me_," Riella growled. "Where is Bumblebee?"

"Umm...he's inside..." Simmons looked around. Riella identified the stall tactic – they didn't have any of their anti-Autobot weaponry with them. She could take them down easily before anything arrived, as long as she didn't let them drag this out again.

"Where, inside? Tell me."

"We'll show you," the second agent offered nervously. "Just wait a moment..."

"No," Riella snapped. "No more stalling. _Now._" She glanced at Sam. "Let's go."

"Coming." Sam paused. "Hey, Riella? As long as you're the one negotiating, I'd like my parents back too. Oh, and her juvie record?" He gestured to Mikaela. "That's got to be gone, like, forever. Can you…"

"We'll see," Riella promised. "Bumblebee is my priority now. And _speaking of which…_" She glared at the two government agents. The older flinched.

"Follow us, please. We'll talk."

"No, you're going to take me to Bumblebee," the technorganic said firmly, transforming back to organic mode so that she could fit through the human-sized doors ahead. She didn't activate her holograms, leaving her scars, robotic arms, and glowing optics visible. "Don't make me go look for him myself. You _will _regret that."

Simmons nodded nervously, leading the way into the dam. As they started entered, Mikaela looked sideways at Riella. "How can you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Transform into a robot that size. Are you, like, solid metal inside?"

Riella chuckled briefly and shook her head. "Not precisely. We're actually not sure how it works. I was given cybernetic parts after being seriously injured in an explosion, and I had a partial robot mode for a while, then I was hit with an electrical jolt. Next time I transformed, that was the result. Ratchet thinks maybe it came from the fact that I was a full-grown adult when I got the upgrades, so the AI in the processor assumed I needed a full-size robot body."

"Alright, here's the situation," Simmons announced, as they rejoined Maggie, Glen, and a group of soldiers. "You've all had direct contact with the N.B.E's, and you, young lady -" he pointed to Riella "_are_ an N.B.E."

"N.B.E?" Riella frowned, running through a list of known human abbreviations.

"Non-biological extraterrestrials. Try to keep up with the acronyms. What you're about to see is totally classified."

"I don't care," Riella responded, tone warning. "Where is Bumblebee?"

"We'll take you to him in a minute, but this is important for everyone here to see." When Riella's jaw tightened in anger, Simmons took a step back. "Why are you so worried about the car, anyway?"

"That _car_," Riella snapped, eyes/optics glowing, "is my child. My soldier. My responsibility."

"Your _what?_" Sam stared incredulously.

"You heard me," the technorganic snapped. "Where is he? Enough stalling, Agent."

"Be patient," the second agent (Banachek, a name Riella had picked up by brushing against his shoulder on the way in) said nervously, leading the way into a massive central room. The object at the other end of it caught Riella's attention immediately.

A huge, silver robot stood against the far wall, illuminated by blue lights and surrounded by smoke and steam. Riella recognized the bucket-esque head and spiked body immediately. Instinct kicked in, and she transformed in less than a second, going straight to full locked-down battle-mode with her blades out and her faceplate up. "_Megatron!_"

Humans scattered away from her, but there was no response from the Decepticon leader. A quick scan told Riella that he was in stasis, still partially frozen in a block of ice. She lowered her blades and deactivated the faceplate, but didn't transform back. "What is _he _doing here? Where did he come from?"

"We think, when he made his approach over the North Pole, our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry. He crashed in the ice, probably a few hundred years ago."

"Close to five hundred and ninety," Riella said. "If he arrived here within a few years of leaving Cybertron."

"We shipped him here to this facility when it was built," Simmons finished, ignoring her interruption. "We call him N.B.E One."

"It's _Megatron_. Try to keep up with the names," Riella said dryly. "He's the leader of the Decepticons. For those of you who never bothered to learn anything about us, that is not good news. What do you think you're doing, keeping him in your secret base? Are you that careless with your security? Not that it surprises me."

"He's been in cryostasis since before he was brought here." Banachek looked at Sam. "Your great-grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind."

"Fact is," Simmons elaborated, "you're looking at the source of the modern age. The microchip, lasers, spaceflight, all reverse-engineered by studying him." He glared at Riella. "N.B.E. One. That's what we call it."

"We have names and genders," Riella retorted. "_His_ name is _Megatron_. Also, you reverse-engineered Cybertronian tech? Without knowing what it was or where it was from? If I didn't think humans were reckless before, I do now."

Simmons glared harder. The man wearing a nametag that said "Defense Secretary Keller" looked at Banachek. "And you didn't think the U.S. military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?"

"Until these events, we had no credible threat to national security." Banachek didn't sound bothered.

"Well, you slagging well have one now." Riella looked up at the Decepticon. "In fact, more than one."

"So why Earth?" The soldier with the name "Lennox" on his jacket looked up at Riella. At least someone had the sense to ask the expert.

"It's the AllSpark," she told him, automatically checking her comm line to see if anyone had showed up yet. "We know it is on Earth. Where, I'm not sure yet."

"AllSpark? What is that?" Defense Secretary Keller looked at Simmons, then Riella.

Sam spoke up. "It's some cube-looking kind of thing..."

"The AllSpark is what gave life to our race. It holds the power to give life to ordinary machines, and to create worlds. It is a source of great power. _Megatron_ -" she emphasized the name " - wants to use it to transform Earth's machines into an army that will fight for him and take over the galaxy."

"You're sure about that?" Simmons looked skeptical. "Kinda 'comic-book-supervillain', isn't it?"

Riella nodded, not entirely understanding the reference but catching his meaning. "Captured Decepticons have expressed as much to us, and it is consistent with Megatron's general modus operandi."

"Sounds like quite a guy." Sam stared at the government agents, then his eyes widened. "Wait. That AllSpark. You guys know where it is, don't you?"

"What?" Riella crouched so that she could look Banachek in the eye, and glared right at him. "If that is true, you must tell me." When he hesitated, she growled, "The survival of your race may depend on it."

He took less than half a minute to decide. Apparently, having a giant robot glaring at you tended to speed up the decision-making process. "Follow us."

"You're about to see our crown jewel," Simmons announced proudly, leading the way to a small door just off the hanger holding Megatron. Riella transformed so that she could walk through it onto the small balcony, trying not to be bothered about being in organic mode with Megatron right there. She stepped up to the windows, and gasped at the sight, immediately forgetting the Decepticon.

"Primus…all that time. All that time we looked. It was right here."

The Cube was settled on one corner, lights shining down on it. It was huge, expanded to full size – at least three times Optimus's size, and probably more. She vaguely heard Banachek explaining how and when it was found, but ignored him. Carefully, she placed her fully-metal hand on the window and closed her eyes. She could sense the power coming from the AllSpark, even through the glass, and it chilled her to the bone to imagine that in Megatron's grasp. The two were far, far too close.

She spun on her heel to look at Banachek. "Take me to Bumblebee. Now. We need to get this to the other Autobots."

"Just a moment, alright? We have something to show the Defense Secretary."

Riella sighed, following them into the sealed room and letting them lock the door. It wouldn't stop her if she really needed to get out. "You know, I could just _tell _you what the AllSpark will do to that cellphone. It'll come to life and try to eviscerate you, because it's not Cybertronian tech and it's not supposed to be brought to life in the first place. This is a waste of time. Where is Bumblebee?"

Then her comm beeped once. Puzzled, she touched a finger to the activator. "Hold on." She motioned for Simmons to back off. "I'm getting something..."

She picked up a faint clicking, then, a Cybertronian energy signal. It was familiar, and it wasn't Autobot.

"Starscream..." she breathed. Spinning around, she yelled, "Code red! Decepticons inbound!"

Then the first explosion shook the building.


	10. Chapter 10: Megatron

**A/N: Again, some Riella edits, and better writing for the comm-link chatter. Better Lennox writing here, too, I think, although I didn't do too much with him.**

**Chapter 10: Megatron**

Despite her annoyance with humanity in general at the moment, Riella had to be impressed by Defense Secretary Keller's calmness, even if he was stating the blatantly obvious. "Gentlemen, ladies, they know the Cube is here."

Banachek grabbed the nearest phone. "Banachek. What's going on?" Riella's sensitive hearing picked up the response. "The NBE One hangar has lost power..."

"What?" Banachek yelled into the phone.

Riella turned to the door. "Get this open now, or I will! It's time to move."

"Do you have an arms room?" Lennox looked over at Simmons. Riella nodded to the soldier briefly. One of them, at least, had his head on straight.

"Get everyone to the NBE One hangar now!" Banachek motioned for them to exit the room ahead of him. Riella sprinted past the others, having finally managed to download a map of the base.

"No, don't! Don't send anyone in there!" She knew they wouldn't listen, but she had to try. Her comm beeped 'incoming message', and she answered it without slowing down.

"We have a code Alpha-Red at Hoover Dam. Repeat, code Alpha-Red! One active 'Con, potential for two."

::What? Riella, it's Prowl, where are you?::

"Lower levels. 'Scream's up top. Megatron's coming out of stasis in the main hangar." Another explosion shook the base.

::Copy that. Do not engage. Keep the humans away from him. I'm on my way.::

::Copy.:: She paced impatiently as the soldiers armed themselves. "Can't you hurry it up?" She couldn't abandon them, no matter how much she wanted to head off Megatron. Besides, she had her orders.

Sam pulled on her arm. "What about Bumblebee?" Riella's jaw tightened, and she made a snap decision. Prowl would have to live with it.

"You! Simmons!" She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him around to face her. "You know where Bumblebee is. Take me to him _right now._ Then we're getting the AllSpark and leaving. I should never have let you stall me."

"The car's confiscated," the human snapped, pulling away from her. "And I don't know what will happen if I let you two near it. I have people's lives at stake here!"

"You don't know? I'll tell you what will happen." Riella snapped one blade out of its housing. "Everyone in this building will _die_, followed by the rest of the planet. Do as I say!"

Behind her, a gun safety clicked off. Riella spun around, expecting the gun to be pointed at her, and raised an eyebrow in surprise when it was Lennox pointing a gun at _Simmons. _"Take her to the car." His men were already holding weapons on the rest of the Sector Seven agents. Riella had to admit, it was unexpected but welcome backup.

"Drop the weapon, soldier! I'm ordering you under S-7 executive jurisdiction!" Simmons tried to back up, but was trapped by a weapons table.

"S-7 don't exist," the soldier with 'Epps' on his jacket pointed out.

"That's right, and we don't take orders from people who don't exist," Lennox finished. "Now you gonna take her to the car, or what?"

"I'm gonna count to five..." Simmons threatened. Riella wasn't sure what exactly he was doing, but decided it would take too long to deal with.

"You count to five." She cycled her left arm into its cannon mode. "I'll count to three."

"Simmons?" Defense Secretary Keller spoke very quietly, not moving, one eye warily fixed on Riella. "I'd do what they said."

Simmons managed a nod, staring at the cannon. "All right. Okay. You wanna lay the fate of the world on a half-robot girl and the kid's Camaro? That's cool."

"Let's go." Riella turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. In the hall, she glanced at Lennox. "Thanks. Why'd you back me up?"

"I've been in the army long enough to know how that would've gone down," Lennox said dryly. "You're a career soldier, Simmons is a civilian you don't answer to. You were gonna win that fight, but it would've wasted time and energy for all of us and gotten you in trouble. I just sped the process up."

"Well, I appreciate it," Riella told him, matching the human's pace. "I won't forget that." Her scanner picked up Bumblebee's signal, and she skidded to a stop and found the correct door. "There."

When the door swung open, the first thing Riella heard was Bumblebee's faint raspy cry of pain, and she almost went ballistic. "What the _slag _are you _doing _to him, you son of a glitch?!" She could hear Sam yelling for someone to stop, but it wasn't clear who he meant. That was alright. She wasn't listening. A quick transformation sent humans scattering as she lunged across the room, ripping chains and cables away from her sparkling. She pulled Bumblebee to his feet, yanking him into a hug with a clatter of metal. "Thank Primus. Are you okay, Bee?"

::I'll be fine. Good timing! Let's deal with them!:: Bumblebee pulled away from her, his battle mask slamming down as he activated his cannon and pointed it at the humans. Sam started babbling again, something about 'no, it's okay, he's friendly…'

"No, wait, Bee!" Riella grabbed his arm. "We're in a code Alpha-Red. You've got those two to watch – " she pointed to Sam and Mikaela " – and I've got to get to the AllSpark."

::What? It's here?::

"Yes." Riella nodded as Bumblebee lowered the gun and retracted his mask. "Don't worry about the cannons, I just about did the same thing. Get them out of here, if they'll go."

Bumblebee nodded, leaning down to check on Sam. Riella left them to talk, hurrying back toward the AllSpark chamber, but by the time she got there, Bumblebee and the rest of the humans were right behind her again. She sighed. "Can't get rid of you lot, can I?"

"That's _our _property you want," Banachek protested. Riella ignored him, and when he didn't open the door, cycled her cannon and obliterated the barrier with a quick shot. The AllSpark flickered in response to the energy signal.

Bumblebee looked at Riella and sent a request over the comm system, to which she nodded. "Go ahead. I'll help you."

A cautious energy pulse from each Autobot triggered the AllSpark's compression cycle. It divided into millions of smaller cubes, rippling with blue energy, then the cubes folded in on each other, twisting and vanishing into subspace. The AllSpark became smaller and smaller, until it had collapsed into a cube small enough to fit in an Autobot's palm. Riella took it for a second, realized it would throw off her balance if she kept it in subspace, and handed it to Bumblebee. "You're in charge of that – you've got the car mode."

**Let's get to it**, Bumblebee transmitted over the radio, transforming quickly and tucking the AllSpark into one of the seats.

"He's right," Lennox said. "We stay here, we're screwed, with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City is 22 miles away. We're gonna sneak that Cube out of here and we're gonna hide it somewhere in the city."

"Good plan," Riella approved. "Can you get backup? There's only a few of us."

Lennox nodded. "I wouldn't want to make a stand against these things without the Air Force. Defense Secretary?"

"This place must have some kind of radio link..." Keller looked at Simmons. "Shortwave, CB..."

"Sir, you gotta figure out some way to get word out to them," Lennox ordered firmly. "If they're after that AllSpark, we'll draw them away from you no problem. Let's move!"

Riella sensed Prowl's arrival, and smiled dangerously. "Backup's here. We now have three Autobots, and I'll bet anything you like that the other four aren't far away. Odds just got a bit more even."

Simmons finished telling Keller where to find the radio and Lennox commandeered a standard military car, while Sam and Mikaela quickly ducked into Bumblebee's vehicle form. Riella debated for a second, then transformed into her own vehicle mode, a sleek blue-and-silver motorcycle; as much as she hated giving away her triple-changer ability, it would be more convenient and safer at this point.

Warnings started coming over the monitors as they sped out of the base. "Cryo-containment failing in NBE One hangar."

Uh-oh. Riella played back an appropriate song over her radio, just because she could. **It comes awake and I can't control it...**

::Bee, get ready to fight. I hope we don't have to, but...:: She let the comment drop there.

::Copy that.::

Seconds after they hit the pavement outside, Prowl came speeding across the parking lot, turning fast to fall in beside Riella. _Riella! Are you alright? Where's Bee?_

_He's just up ahead. We're both fine. I'm glad you're here, I think we may need the backup._

They raced down the road, side by side ahead of the others. Prowl opened a comm line. ::Prowl to Optimus. I have Riella, Bee, and the AllSpark.::

::Well done! We're close to your position. We'll be there in a moment.::

A minute later, they passed the convoy of Autobots, going the other direction. Optimus hit the brakes so fast that he spun completely around before falling in behind the others. Jazz, of course, managed to turn with style, while Ironhide and Ratchet settled for simply turning hard.

::Yo, Riella-girl! You okay? Hey Bee, 'sup?::

::Hey, Jazz. We're fine. Glad to be back. You do realize you're breaking a lot of the local laws, driving like that?::

If Jazz had been in robot mode, Riella knew he would have been grinning. ::We're all speeding. I don't think anyone's worryin' 'bout that right now.::

::You just _look _for excuses, don't you?::


	11. Chapter 11: Mission City

**A/N: Less drama, better comm chatter, usual Riella changes, etc. Also more bond-talking, because come on, nobody breaks a habit that fast. **

**Chapter 11: Mission City**

A siren went off somewhere behind them as they reached the outskirts of the city. ::Sounds like someone is worrying about you, Jazz...:: Riella ran a scan to see where the siren was coming from and immediately snapped to alert.

::Code Alpha! We've got a 'Con, coming up behind use!::

::Jazz, Bumblebee, stay with the humans!:: Optimus ordered. ::The rest of you, with me. Riella, Prowl, cover the outside – Ironhide, Ratchet, down the middle. I'll take him:: The 'Con - Bonecrusher, Riella thought, but with the new vehicle modes it was hard to tell – was already in full robot mode running toward them, and Optimus transformed and spun to block his path. Bonecrusher slammed into him, and they both rolled off the side of the bridge.

Jazz, as first lieutenant, took command. ::Right, everybody stay on course and keep the speed up. We can't fight 'em on the road. Prowl, talk to me. What've we got?::

::So far, we have Barricade, Megatron, and Starscream confirmed as active, but if we have Bonecrusher, there could be others.:: Prowl pulled in a little closer as they entered the city, Riella doing the same on her side. ::We may not be outnumbered, but I think it's fair to say we're outgunned.::

::Copy.:: Jazz decelerated, matching the human vehicles. ::They're gettin' radios. Team, go to standby, stay in vehicle mode.::

Gliding into a parking position, Riella pulled to a stop as close to Prowl as she could. _I'm sorry I lost my head at the bridge. I should have kept it under control._

_Apology accepted. _Prowl leaned over a bit so that the sides of the motorcycles were touching. _I know you were worried about Bumblebee, and you had a right to be. I was, too. _

_Thank you for that. _Riella let her engine idle, keeping a wary scanner on. _So what's your honest opinion? Can we win this fight?_

_Honestly, I don't know. There are seven of us, and Optimus and Ironhide are easily worth two or three each. But against Megatron and an unknown number of Decepticons? Odds are not stacked in our favor. _There was a pause. _Sometimes I hate my battle computer. I did not need to be thinking that._

_Me neither. I suppose we just have to do what we've always done and hold the line, no matter what happens. We could really use the Twins right about now._

_The twins or the Arcees, or even Cliffjumper and Brawn. They're some of the best front-liners we've got. _Prowl sounded regretful. _Oh well. No use asking for the impossible._

"Come on, let's go! Mount up!" Both motorcycles snapped to alert as Lennox came running out of a nearby store, tossing short-wave radios to the nearest soldiers. "We got communications. What about you guys?"

**Got it covered,** Jazz played back over his radio. A second clip followed up, **Thanks.**

They started down the street, a strange convoy of sports cars, military vehicles, a pickup truck and two riderless motorcycles.

::Jazz, do you want us to activate our holograms?:: Prowl asked over the comm.

::Nah, don't bother. Ya don't wanna drain your energon too fast.::

"F-22, 12:00," Epps called.

Lennox barked off a string of instructions for the plane, which Riella's external visual sensors picked up a moment later. She slowed down and went to full scan, but it was out of range. ::Does that look familiar to anyone else?::

::Oh yeah:: Ironhide said grimly. ::Couldn't say for sure, though. Could just be a model that happens to look a lot like a Seeker.::

::No taking chances:: Jazz ordered. ::Delta formation. Stand by for action.::

A chorus of "got it" came over the comm channel as they stopped. Lennox sent up a flare to signal their location.

The plane turned, far faster than any Earth vehicle should have. Ironhide transformed to robot mode in the time it took Riella to notice what he was doing, cannons powered and ready. "It's Starscream!"

Prowl spun around and matched Riella's speed as Bumblebee transformed behind them. "Back up, move out of the way! Bumblebee!" Ironhide yelled at the younger scout, gesturing for a familiar maneuver. "Cover!" The two of them picked up a nearby semi-truck to use as a shield for the few humans who hadn't run yet, Ironhide still barking orders. "Back up, back up! Prowl, Riella, Jazz, I need cover!"

Riella transformed, followed by Prowl, and both shifted as one to provide cover fire. Before they had a chance, Starscream dropped at Mach 1, homing in on the Autobot team. "Move! Incoming!" Prowl shouted, gesturing even as he took several quick steps back. Ironhide and Bumblebee dived clear, barely in time, as rapid fire obliterated their makeshift shield. Everyone within range was thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion.

For a second, everything was relatively quiet, before humans and Autobots alike moved to recover. "Everybody okay? Anybody hurt?" "Clear the area!" Prowl made it up first and held out a hand to pull Riella to her feet. "Bumblebee? Ironhide?" The weapons specialist gestured 'fine', but Bumblebee didn't get up, to Riella's horror. She took off running, with her mate right behind her.

"Bee? Bee!" Riella skidded to her knees at her oldest sparkling's side. Both of his legs were shattered below the knee, but to her relief there was no serious bleeding or further damage. Lucky break.

Somehow Sam and Mikaela had managed to move away in time, although they _hadn't _cleared the area as requested. "You all right?" Bumblebee struggled to move as Sam panicked. "Get up, please Bumblebee, get up..."

"Ratchet!" Prowl yelled at full volume. "Over here, we've got a casualty! Riella – "

"I'm on it," Riella snapped. "It's not as bad as it looks. Bee, don't move."

Just then, an explosion ripped into the ground near them, as a tank rolled down the street. "_Slag._ Devastator. And Starscream's on the ground." Prowl turned. "Riella, we have to – "

"- Go. Right. Bee, stay here, out of the way. You'll be fine as long as you don't try to walk. Keep an optic on the humans. We'll be back for you." Riella patted his shoulder, then got up and looked at her sparkmate. Jazz and Ratchet were already moving, shifted back to vehicle mode. "Let's roll."

With one final look back, the duo transformed simultaneously and took off down the street after the military convoy.

Ironhide took the lead, swerving around shells from the tank as he drove straight toward it. Transforming on the run, he leaped over a human, dodging a few more blasts, as Jazz transformed and grabbed Devastator from the side. "Come on, Decepticon punk!" The Decepticon threw the small Autobot away, but Ironhide, completely in his element in urban combat, was already firing. Riella activated the small gun in her right arm and clamped her faceplate shut, while Prowl unsubspaced his heavier mini-cannon. Both knew, without asking, that cover fire for Jazz was their job, and that was easy enough to provide. Devastator went down under a barrage of Autobot and human gunfire.

Then the ground shook as something exploded and crashed down behind them. Riella spun, gun and blades out on pure reflex, and almost froze when she saw the cause. "Scrap! Autobots, we've got the big one incoming!"

"It's Megatron, retreat! Move! Fall back!" Jazz motioned for the team to obey, pointing them down a side street. ::We'll circle back, stall him an' wait for Optimus! I've got you covered.::

Riella hesitated, reluctant to go without the silver Autobot. Prowl grabbed his sparkmate's arm and yanked her behind him. "Riella, go! You heard him!"

They both backed off, firing. Riella gasped as Jazz, caught a bit too close to one of Megatron's cannon blasts, was sent sprawling. ::Jazz! Get up!::

::I'm fine, Riella-girl, you get out of here!::

Before any of them could move, Megatron grabbed the Autobot, launching him onto the roof of the nearest skyscraper. "Jazz!" Prowl took off running in that direction, Riella following right behind him. Jazz was putting up a good fight, but he simply wasn't a match for the Decepticon leader, especially with the disadvantage caused by Megatron's choice of location. That still didn't stop him from trash-talking, to Prowl and Riella's collective dismay. "You want a piece of me? You want a piece -"

"No!" Megatron grabbed Jazz by an arm and a leg. "I want _two_!" With a powerful yank, he literally tore the Autobot in half.

Riella and Prowl both stopped, frozen with horror, before Riella cried out. "Jazz! Nooo!" She took off running toward the building, determined to take on Megatron herself, but Prowl tackled her, throwing her to the ground as a blast from one of Megatron's cannons hit a few feet away.

"Riella! There's nothing we can do."

"No..." She was shaking, a few tears spilling over. "_No_..."

"Riella, I know, but grieving has to wait!" Prowl hauled her upright and immediately yelped as a metal foot slammed into him, throwing him back against a building. Riella dropped to the ground again, running on instinct, as the black and white Decepticon stepped over her.

"This ends here, Autobot!" Barricade snarled angrily, rotating blade raised.


	12. Chapter 12: Not Today

**A/N: Chapter title change, again. Also better pacing for the battle scenes, and changes to both Riella and Prowl's fight styles. Originally, it was hard to tell they were supposed to be good warriors, never mind tacticians. Oh, and the scene change is different, because the new chapter is next.**

**Chapter 12: Not Today**

Prowl dodged just in time, as the blade slammed down where his head would have been. He rolled out of the way, coming up on his feet. _Riella!_

_I'm good! _Riella stumbled to her feet, meeting Prowl's optics for a second. _Let's do this. For Jazz. _Raising her chin proudly, the femme locked optics with Barricade and whispered the Autobot battle cry. "Till all are one."

"Till all are one," Prowl echoed. Then they synchronized through the bond, and the duo entered the battle with one mind.

Barricade lunged to meet them, swinging his blade around to fend off Riella as he slammed into Prowl, throwing the smaller 'bot backward. Riella ducked under the blade and slashed at the 'Con's wrist, only to have her blade glance off his armor. Too late, she realized the danger, as Barricade jerked his arm downward. She couldn't get completely clear of the rotating blade, and it put a shallow slash in her light armor. Energon trickled down her back.

With the second of distraction, Prowl hit Barricade square in the face, knocking him backward, then followed up with a kick to the midsection, taking him off balance. Riella grabbed Barricade's arm and twisted, lifting him over her shoulder, as Prowl knocked his feet out from under him. The combination was enough to throw Barricade several yards away. He landed with a painful-sounding crunch on a heap of rubble.

His red optics held a death glare when he rolled upright. "You'll _pay _for that!" He lunged forward and lashed out. Riella dived left and Prowl went right, both trying to get clear, but the force of the blade slamming into the ground threw the femme off balance. She let herself drop to her knees and roll, as Barricade struck down at her. She tumbled straight into the side of a building, kicked off, and used the momentum to flip herself upright.

Prowl opened fire with the mini-cannon, forcing the Decepticon to fix his attention on the Autobot mech. It gave Riella the perfect opening to re-enter the fight, twisting around Barricade's spinning blade and slicing down at his shoulder. She connected solidly this time, the blade biting deep into the 'Con's right doorwing and almost severing it. Barricade howled in pain, stumbling away. One of Prowl's blaster bolts connected solidly with Barricade's lower body, drawing another howl of rage and pain as Riella leaped back out of range.

Barricade snarled, then raised his arm and fired a rapid spray of blaster bolts toward them. Riella hit the ground, rolling on her shoulder and evading the gunfire. Prowl wasn't quite as fast, and one caught him in the shoulder, spinning him around and sending him to the ground. Barricade leaped forward to stand over the fallen Autobot, a gleam of rage in his optics...

And screeched in fury as Prowl hurled a shuriken straight into his face, gouging deep into the metal and leaving traces of energon trickling down to the Decepticon's neck.

"Bad idea, Autobot!" Barricade punched downward, full force. Prowl, injured and cornered, couldn't quite get out of the way, though he managed to block most of the blow on his forearm.

Riella, back on her feet, saw her mate injured and Barricade standing over him, and time slowed down. White-hot fury flared in her spark. She'd already lost Jazz. She would _NOT_ lose Prowl.

Not today.

Sprinting toward the Decepticon, she leaped over a destroyed car, kicking off the top of it, and hurled herself toward Barricade's back, front-flipping to accelerate her approach and angling both blades directly at her opponent's spark chamber.

Barricade made an odd, pained grunt as Riella's blades slammed through his back. Neither one hit his spark, but both of them came close, one on each side. Riella yanked the now-stained blades free as Barricade crumpled into a heap at her feet.

Flicking energon contemptuously off the blades with a quick static shock down each one, she stepped over Barricade and held out a hand to Prowl. "You okay?"

Prowl took the offered hand and pulled himself upright. "Nothing Ratchet can't put back together in five minutes."

"Good. Let's get back to the others." Riella's optics were glowing brighter than normal, and their expression was so cold they might have been chips of blue ice. "We've got some 'Con aft to kick."

"You've been hanging around Ironhide too much." Prowl looked around for a moment before he spotted an explosion. "That way." They both took off at a rapid jog, leaving Barricade where he was.

The battle zone was chaos, smoke and debris and screaming humans everywhere. Prowl looked around for Ratchet and Ironhide, and saw them both covering Sam as he ran down the street.

::Ratchet, Jazz is down. Report!::

::Sam's got the AllSpark. He's headed for that building, the one with the statues. Their 'copters will pick up him and the Cube and get them clear of here. We're covering him.:: Ratchet glanced briefly back at the duo. ::Prowl, without Jazz, you have operational command.::

::Copy that. Keep the situation locked down as much as possible:: Prowl opened fire on Blackout, matching Ratchet and Ironhide's pace. Riella joined in, aiming for the fuel tanks in the hope of causing an explosion. It wasn't working, especially after Megatron opened fire from behind.

::Prowl, we need a new strategy…::

Prowl dodged a shot from Blackout. ::I've got Prime on scanners. Hold the line, keep an optic on the human. And watch your back.:: Seconds after Prowl's instructions ended, an explosion shook the entire street, and Optimus crashed through the debris blocking one of the streets, already transforming.

"Megatron!"

"Prime!" The Decepticon leader promptly transformed to his jet mode, taking off and hurtling toward Optimus. The Autobot leader grabbed on, the two of them spinning crazily and crashing through buildings as Megatron attempted to shake him off.

"Keep moving, Sam!" Ironhide raced beside him, Riella and Prowl close behind. Ratchet was on his other side, firing at Blackout. "Don't stop!"

Riella looked up in time to catch a glimpse of a jet plummeting toward them. "Starscream inbound!" she shouted, leveling her gun and opening fire, as the 'Con transformed and landed on several cars. Close to the human. Too close.

Ratchet and Ironhide both opened fire on the Decepticon jet, as Riella and Prowl dived toward him. Prowl slammed a fist square into Starscream's shoulder, while Riella slashed at his leg. Apparently the combined attack of all four Autobots was too much, as Starscream transformed back to jet mode and took off. "Coward," Riella muttered.

"Sam, get to the building!" Prowl turned to look after the jet, making sure he wouldn't come around for another pass. Sam ran, as fast as he could. ::Maybe one of us should give him a ride?:: Riella suggested over the comm. ::Or take the AllSpark?::

::No:: Prowl responded shortly. ::It would only make it harder. We all need our weapons free. Riella, cover our backs – Ironhide, take the left flank, Ratchet, you've got right –::

Then, to everyone's absolute horror, Megatron slammed into the ground in front of Sam. "Give me that Cube, boy!"

"Cover fire! Riella, get to the boy, we're out of options – " Prowl's instructions were cut off, again, by Sam tripping. The AllSpark smacked into the ground, sending a pulse through the concrete.

"Oh, slag," Riella swore as every machine on the street started transforming. "That's exactly what we needed." The small - but deadly - machines opened fire on everything in the area. A moment later, gunfire from an F-22 ripped into the ground. "Starscream!"

"Riella, go!" Prowl took out three of the tiny machines with quick shots. "You're the fastest! Get the kid out of here, any way you have to! We'll cover your back – Ironhide's going for Megatron – "

"No – you'll –"Riella shook her head desperately. _Prowl, no!_

"Go! That's an order!" Prowl met her optics for a single second, a look that conveyed everything neither of them had time to say. _Riella, it's okay – I love you – we knew this would happen someday – go!_

_Prowl – I love you - _Shaking her head and blinking smoke out of her optics, Riella transformed and hit the accelerator without looking back.


	13. Chapter 13: Hold Your Ground

**A/N: Short but entirely new chapter 13. This ended up being written partly because of changes to the Autobots' tactics in chapter 12, and partly because the original ending was just too anticlimactic. Seriously, there was a little bit of fighting, then the Autobots dodged fighter jets, and then Megatron was dead. More action was badly needed. Plus, it was a chance for me to write Riella doing some vehicle-mode stuff, and show off some of her determination – a trait she has in "Operation Earth" and "Diabolus Ex Machina" to a certain degree, but not in the original draft of this story.**

**Chapter 13: Hold Your Ground**

Tires skidding over debris and shattered roads, Riella swerved around crashed cars in a desperate effort to catch up to Sam. She was far faster, but the human had a good lead on her and was cutting across spaces she couldn't fit through – and in vehicle mode, there was no way to yell at him. A tight spiraling turn almost threw her onto her side, but it got her close enough to cut across his path and decelerate to match his running speed.

**Get on! **The audio clip didn't sound as urgent as she would have liked.

"What?" Sam looked at her while still sprinting and almost tripped again. "I can't – "

Riella's engine growled in frustration, and she swerved close enough to almost bump into him, slowing down further. **Now!**

Sam glanced at her with wide eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed for the handlebars. Riella moved neatly to the side, making it easy for the boy to get on one-handed, but he still almost slid off the other side. The instant he was on, Riella played back a snappish **Hold on!** and hit the accelerator, rocketing down the nearly mile-long stretch of ground toward her target.

Megatron picked her up on radar almost immediately, and before Riella had time to ask what the slag her backup was doing, the Decepticon was practically on top of her. Only a quick sideways swerve that almost threw Sam off stopped them both from being obliterated by a blast from the Decepticon leader's fusion cannon. The explosion shook the ground and sent shrapnel flying in all directions. Riella clamped every panel down as tightly as possible to reduce wind resistance and gunned her engine into overdrive, wheels screaming in protest at the speed. Half mile – quarter mile – another explosion shattered the road inches from her back wheel and almost flipped her over.

Fifty yards. Sam screamed at her, trying to gesture to the building without letting go. "Door's blocked! It's all – you can't – stop! We're gonna die!" Twenty-five yards – fifteen – ten – another audio clip from some old TV show. **Not a problem!**

Five yards – Sam was right, there was an automobile accident blocking the usual entrance – but there was a gap, just to the left. Riella slammed on the brakes and allowed herself to spin out, _almost _skidding her side along the pavement, and slid under a crashed semi-truck to land with a screech of tires inside the ground floor of the statue building.

Sam must have been too scared to scream, but that didn't stop him from tumbling off of Riella's motorcycle form and taking a few rapid steps away. "Okay…okay. They're not gonna get us." He turned around in circles, looking for somewhere to hide. "They're not gonna get us. Right? I just gotta get this thing to the roof."

Riella transformed in one quick motion and ejected both blades, spotting the stairs across the room. "Yes. Go. Run! I'm right behind y-"

Two giant stained-glass windows, along with the concrete between them, exploded inward as Megatron crashed through the wall, shouting in Cybertronian. _"The Cube, boy!"_

"Sam, go!" Without waiting to see if he obeyed, Riella spun on her heel and held both blades up in a defensive position, dropping back into a wary crouch. She didn't stand a chance against Megatron, she knew that – he was three times her size, stronger, faster, with far more experience. Any fight she put up would only be delaying the inevitable.

But then, delaying him was kind of the idea, wasn't it?

Riella barely had time to assess the situation before Megatron roared and lunged for her, massive claw slicing a deep cut up her cheek as she dropped and rolled. If she hadn't moved, it would have taken her head off. Jaw tightening, she flipped herself back upright and spun, blades crossing to catch and deflect another strike. The force of the blow almost broke her arms, drawing a cry of pain and sending Riella stumbling back, shoulders throbbing. Energon ran down her face. Her comm channel, when she tried to open it, crackled with static. ::Prowl? Ironhide? Optimus? _Anyone? _I need backup! Does anyone copy?:: The bond was practically burning – Prowl was hurt.

"_So foolish," _Megatron taunted. _"Haven't you learned anything since the last times you faced me?" _One claw swept down again. Riella backflipped out of the way…and failed to see the backhand swing, which slammed into her chest at high speed. She went flying, crashing into the far wall and bouncing across the floor. Her head smacked against stone, and she felt several things crack inside her chassis plating. Something warm – energon? – trickled down her side.

_Oh…that's not good. _

Stunned and bleeding, all Riella could do for a few seconds was lie still. Megatron snorted contemptuously and stalked away, in the direction Sam had gone.

_Oh... No! Sam! _Riella twisted and struggled, trying to get up. It hurt. ::Autobots! Does anyone copy? I need backup at the statue building. Anyone? Can anyone hear me?:: _Prowl, are you there? Prowl! Megatron's here! I can't stop him – _

_Riella, I'm on my way! Hold on – hold on - _Prowl was hurt. It was obvious. Riella could feel him trying to run, and failing. It wasn't stopping him. _I'm coming! Stay where you are. You've done all you can._

Riella's head snapped up as a thundering crash echoed down from the roof, followed by the faint sound of a screaming human. Her jaw tightened in determination. _Sorry, Prowl…_ This was her job. And frag it, she was going to see this through. _I love you…_

_Riella, don't! _

Ignoring the stab of pain in her ribcage and throbbing in her head, Riella yanked herself upright and sprinted for the gap in the ceiling Megatron had left, propelling herself up through it and toward the next one. The Decepticon had been taking his time, enjoying the chase and letting Sam reach the roof; Riella pushed herself to her absolute limit, and cut the time it had taken him down to less than half.

And yet, as she realized the moment she reached the roof, she hadn't been fast enough.

Megatron had Sam cornered, forced all the way to the very edge of the roof, and Starscream was perched on the building just behind him. Riella knew, with a sinking feeling in her spark, that she would never reach him in time.

As Riella lunged forward, desperately holding out one servo to Sam, Megatron smashed through the edge of the building, sending himself, the human, and the AllSpark crashing down toward the street far below.

"No!" Riella slipped and skidded on debris, almost following them in their fall. "_No!_ Sam!"

A familiar signal popped up in her HUD, and she gasped in relief and pain at the sound of the voice she had hoped to hear earlier. ::Optimus here, Riella. Hang back! I've got this.::

Her moment of determination abruptly ended, Riella's knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the roof, shaking slightly. ::Prime…you'll need backup. Does anyone – anyone copy – Prime needs backup…::

She stumbled upright, dragging herself toward the edge of the roof and looking down. Far below, she could see her leader and Megatron facing off, Optimus growling, "It's you and me, Megatron." Over the comlink, his voice continued in her audio. ::Riella, I said _hang back. _Consider that a direct order.::

Frustration tore at her processor. ::Sir - ::

::Stand. Down!::

Shaking her head and biting her lip, Riella could only watch helplessly as Megatron slammed Optimus down in the street, forcing him further away from Sam. _I can't just sit here! _Sliding forward, she hooked her arm around a convenient steel support beam, braced herself for the jolt, and dropped down toward the road below. Clinging to the beam slowed her fall somewhat, but landing still jarred every part of her frame and sent her sprawling, gasping in pain.

_Riella! _Suddenly Prowl was right next to her, pulling her upright and holding her back against his chest. _Riella, it's alright. You're going to be fine. I'm right here. _

_No! No, we have to help Prime! _She tried to pull away, almost fell, and realized that Prowl's injury was in his lower right leg. _Someone has to – _

_No. He told you. _Even with an injury, Prowl easily held her back. _Stand down. Stay back. Prime has this under control. Both of us are hurt. In this state we'd be a liability, not a help. Obey orders. _At her protest, he added firmly, _He can handle this. Let him do what he does. Fall back. _

Before Riella even had a chance to cooperate, a missile screamed over their heads, barely missing Prowl, and slammed into Megatron's chest. It threw him off-balance, and the half-dozen that followed forced him to his knees. Gunfire from behind several cover spots rattled against Megatron's armor. _Lennox? _Riella barely got the word out before Prowl spun her around and half-carried her several steps back, out of the line of fire. The movement gave her a quick look at the battle.

What she saw sent chills down her backstrut. Megatron, crouched over Sam, who was holding up the AllSpark…

"No!" The cry came from Prowl and Riella simultaneously. Instinct took over, and both dived forward in an effort to stop the boy.

But before they could, the AllSpark made contact with Megatron's own spark with a processor-jolting pulse of energy. Prowl staggered back, Riella twisted her head away in a desperate effort to stop the pain, and when they turned back, Megatron was crumpling to the ground, optics fading from red to gray.

_Is he…I think… _Riella reached out for Prowl's arm, holding on to him for support.

_He's offline. _Prowl sounded as dazed as she did. _Megatron is offline. It's…it's over._


	14. Chapter 14: Aftermath

**A/N: And finally, the original chapter 13, now moved to 14. The biggest change to this was dealing a bit more with Jazz – in the original, it didn't play out urgently at all and he was saved way too easily. So with that, the edit is completed! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the changes and I didn't take out anyone's favorite moments or something. Review and let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 14: Aftermath**

Shaking slightly, Riella clung to Prowl, watching as Optimus looked down at Megatron with sadness in his optics. "You left me no choice, brother." Behind them, Riella could hear the other Autobots approaching cautiously, and the sound of human soldiers talking. There was a human car, too. She didn't turn to look, watching as Optimus knelt to look Sam in the eye. "Sam, I owe you my life. We are in your debt."

A car door opened, and Riella finally turned to glance at it. What she saw made her jaw drop. It was a tow truck…with a very battered Bumblebee, still in robot mode, strapped to the back and looking rather satisfied with himself. Mikaela had apparently been the one driving, since she was climbing out of the truck to stand beside Sam.

"Bee?" Riella's voice sounded rough, even to her. "Are you…"

**Not gonna die tonight**, his radio played. Riella cycled her vents and closed her optics in relief. _He's okay._

_Thank Primus. _Prowl touched Bumblebee's shoulder lightly, letting Riella test her ability to support her own weight. She could. For a moment, it seemed like everything might be alright.

Then Ironhide made his way forward, holding what was left of Jazz's body, and Riella's spark broke all over again at the weapons specialist's soft words. "Prime...we couldn't save him."

Optimus shook his head slowly. "Oh, Jazz…" Ironhide set the body down gently as the Prime continued. "We lost a great comrade. A warrior. A friend."

Tears spilled over as Riella knelt beside her old friend's body, Prowl resting his hand on her back. "Jazz…" She wanted to say something, anything, to honor him, but as had happened the last time she lost a friend, her voice broke and she found herself lost for words. Slowly, she reached down and brushed her fingertips against his spark chamber, remembering all the times he had saved her, or Prowl. And he had done it again, refusing to allow them to sacrifice themselves to rescue him. Their closest and oldest friend.

Then all her thoughts stopped as she felt a slight warmth under her hand, and she drew a sharp breath. That was a familiar sensation, and _not _one she'd ever found on a corpse! "_Ratchet_!" She jumped back, clutching at Prowl's hand.

"What? Are you - " The medic rushed to her side, optics scanning her rapidly.

"No, no, it's not me –" Riella pointed, her hand shaking. "His spark. It's _still there_. Ratchet, do something! He – he's…."

Ratchet pushed past Prowl, reaching for Jazz with quick, precise movements. "Primus, Riella, I don't…" His optics snapped wide. "She's right. _She's right! _I need jumper cables, stat!"

Ironhide was right beside him, holding out two he'd found somewhere. "Will these –"

"It'll stabilize him. If there's enough left…" Ratchet gestured, already attaching the cables. "Get back, all of you!"

Riella stepped back, desperate hope flaring in her spark, and huddled against Prowl. _It has to work…it has to…_They weren't sure which one was thinking it, but when the cables activated once, twice, and then Jazz's visor flickered blue on the third one, their relief was completely mutual.

Ratchet snapped his fingers. "Plating. He's stable. Lost a lot of energon. The jump was just in time. Ironhide! Find me a vehicle – no, I don't care what it is as long as it'll weld to him!" The medic glanced at Prowl and Riella, still tense with worry, and growled, "He'll live. We caught it not a second too soon."

_He'll live. He's alive. _Riella looked up at Prowl, a smile breaking across her tear-stained face. _We're all online...we won. We won._

_It's over. Everyone is okay. _Prowl wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into a hug. She twined her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe as they kissed gently. Leaning her head against his chest, she looked back over at Ratchet, still working, and listened to Optimus, speaking to the humans.

"Thank you, all of you. You honor us with your bravery."

"Permission to speak, sir?"

Riella and Prowl both looked up in shock at a voice that they hadn't heard in a long, long time. "Bee!" Riella gasped.

Optimus actually smiled, a rare sight. "Permission granted, my friend."

"You speak now?" Sam looked as surprised as everyone else, looking from Bumblebee to Mikaela and back.

"I wish to stay with the boy," Bumblebee rasped. It sounded like speaking hurt, but Riella couldn't bring herself to scold him. Her sparkling – her _son _– had his voice back.

"If that is his choice, and if your commanding officers agree." Optimus looked from Sam to Prowl and Riella. "After all, you are still one of their scouts."

They didn't even have to discuss it. "We have no objections," Prowl started. Riella finished. "We're proud of his loyalty. And his courage." Bumblebee lowered his head slightly, a gesture of embarrassment, but smiled.

Sam looked at Mikaela - a gesture which made Riella smile internally, knowing exactly what he was thinking – before answering. "Y-yes. Yes, of course."

Optimus nodded, before bending over Megatron's body and carefully removing a shard of the AllSpark from the now-destroyed spark chamber. "I will take care of this."

Ratchet straightened up. "Prime, sir, we need a safe location to move Jazz to so that we can get him on spark support. He'll survive for a while like this, but not if I don't get him to some kind of shelter."

Optimus looked at Lennox, who nodded. "I'll contact the government. I'm sure they'll arrange something."

Sure enough, 'the government' managed to find several empty warehouses surprisingly fast. _Probably not Simmons, _Prowl remarked dryly on seeing the buildings. Riella had just smirked at him. _Better than a cornfield…_

Five hours later, Riella perched quietly in organic mode beside Jazz inside the smallest warehouse; the other Autobots, with the obvious exception of Prowl, had gone to escort Sam and Lennox back home. Ratchet had gone only on the condition that they let him treat their injuries and then agreed to stay put, monitor Jazz, and contact Ratchet immediately if there were any changes in anyone's condition. Of course, both Prowl and Riella had seen no problem with that arrangement.

Prowl turned away from the open door, walked back to the side of the makeshift medical berth, and sat down beside Riella. "So. Megatron gone. Autobots on Earth. Quite the week."

Riella climbed into his lap and leaned back against him. "Agreed. Has Prime sent out the message yet? To bring other Autobots here? Maybe…maybe the Twins and Blue?"

Prowl smiled, as did Riella, at the thought of their three other sparklings: the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, and the youngest, Bluestreak. "I believe he will be sending it tonight. And those three? Well, you know they never stay gone for long. Count on it, they'll be here. And we'll be waiting for them."

_With the AllSpark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call... home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight... but watching over them in secret... waiting... protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here... we are waiting. _

**The End**


End file.
